Through the Looking Glass (Spider-Gwen/Spider-Man Noir Crossover)
- Thread starter Eratas123
- Start date
Loktarogar
The Apex of Cuddling
- Location
- Brazil
Peter on his mind in the chapter: 
1 - Symbiote because moar MJ!Simbiote
2 - Hype for Hand war, and yeah add MJ
3 - I would like to see how Cindy goes on her day, but seeing on an Omake would be better IMO, and after a chapter that is very angst-filled to give a breather to the readers.
1 - Symbiote because moar MJ!Simbiote
2 - Hype for Hand war, and yeah add MJ
3 - I would like to see how Cindy goes on her day, but seeing on an Omake would be better IMO, and after a chapter that is very angst-filled to give a breather to the readers.
Loktarogar
The Apex of Cuddling
- Location
- Brazil
He doesn't take note of it since it was obviously desperate. Same reason why Gwen doesn't throw a giant fit when she finds out from Mr. Albie that one of her best friends and her boyfriend were apparently kissing behind her back...
Loktarogar
The Apex of Cuddling
- Location
- Brazil
no need to worry Eratas just a joke, I get the circumstances of the kiss were understandable like you explained in the chapter.
Chapter 96 - Eye of the Symbiote
I'll get this out of the way first: a bunch of readers seem to interpret the scene between MJ and Peter as being romantic in nature when it really isn't. The narration point blank states that Mary Jane was simply desperate for comfort/contact and that it could've been from anyone. So yeah, it wasn't meant to be the start of this love triangle that people were convinced 616, MJ and Gwen had in the 60's and 70's.
Besides that I've been reading more on the old Howard the Duck comics and the recent Punisher ones. The former was funny but not that enlightening - apart from the fact that Howard was literally fucking a human woman - but the latter portrays Punisher as having a bit of a downplayed sense of humor. I'll try to add that when he comes back into the focus again later.
Oh, and before we start: what would you guys think of a hypothetical 'Volume 2' set after the 4 big bads are taken care of? I've gotten comments to this effect before and it would be a good place to set the cut arcs. Main problem here is that it wouldn't have a main plot at all, which would really just drag this out even more than it already did. OTOH Spider-Island would make more sense given the scale, so...
Side Note - I've gotten comments on Mary Jane mentioning San Fransokyo and I'll answer this here: whether it's a genuine crossover or just a tongue-in-cheek reference is up to you. Gwen mentions Miraculous Ladybug, Cindy mentioned Watch Dogs and so on and so forth. Given that these characters never appear on-screen you can basically pick and choose how you view it.
Chapter 96: Eye of the Symbiote
"Saw you on the news last night."
Lana looked up from her tray of mystery meat and gave Danika a withering stare as the older girl sat across from her, "Here I thought I could have some peace and quiet..." She picked at the brown slab of meat and sighed. It'd been a few days since 'daddy dearest' outed her, and while the stares and whispers were less frequent now there were still a few people who refused to let shit go.
Such as the aforementioned Danika Hart, who seemed to get it in her skull that just because she was a cape chaser (read: Superhero stalker) that made them buddies now.
"Just thought you'd want to know how the city's seeing you." Danika shrugged, completely ignoring Lana's flat look of annoyance, "I mean the bad guy you stopped last night was apparently a rising name in the villain scene. Kaboom, if I'm remembering right?"
"All I know is she was a crazy bitch," Lana said, looking back down at her food. She didn't even know what that asshole's deal was. One second Lana was walking down the street and then the next a big-headed shitheel comes blazing down the street firing off lightning and screaming about how Manhattan was under new management, that her power made her better than all the 'lesser beings' and that they had no choice but to follow her rules cause she was better than them.
She wasn't feeling so smug after Lana punched her right in the jaw with an exploding fist. Not that she needed to; Lana was pretty sure the cops (or Pete...or the Punisher...or that bald psycho) would've shot her in the gut once they showed up. Electricity didn't stop bullets from hurting - that Electro bitch a few months ago was proof of that.
"Either way it's a real boost," Danika continued, "According to what I've managed to dig up this Kaboom person got her powers a couple of days ago and was terrorizing the city when she could cause apparently she thought she was the only Superpowered person in Manhattan." Danika laughed at that, and Lana (almost) smiled. Considering her track record it was a miracle Spider-Woman or one of the Avengers hadn't gotten to her first, "So the news is singing your praises right now."
"Yeah, vote William Hollister." Lana rolled her eyes. She was sure that prick would appreciate it, at least. It would keep him off her back for at least another week.
"Is that your catchphrase or something? Seems like that's all you say whenever the reporters or the police try to question you."
"What else is there to say? I'm a freak in a city full of them." She chewed on the 'food' and grimaced. Yep, she definitely needed to start packing her lunch, "What's it to you, anyway? I told you I'd do an interview if I have some free time."
"Really? Cause it seems like you're just waiting me out and hoping I get bored."
"Gee, I wonder what gave you that idea." Lana gave the older girl a wry grin.
"Just a hunch." She hummed, "So, any luck finding the guy or gal who tagged your locker?"
"Nope." And she really didn't care to all that much. Freak, slut, punk, uptight bitch...there was always something someone would call her out on being no matter how far from the truth it was. Least she really was a freak; she'd take being called that over being called a slut who blew the entire football team. Besides, nowadays she didn't have to worry about getting harassed to her face. Apart from Brooke a lot of people weren't stupid enough to run up on someone who could go Carrie on their asses.
"And...you don't care?"
"I'm really worried over it, believe me." No wonder Pete and the others were always so sarcastic; anyone would be if they had to deal with strangers suddenly butting into their business.
"Okay, is sarcasm just a hero thing? Like is that a requirement now?"
"Yeah, along with stupid costumes." She looked down at her phone and smiled slightly when she saw that it was half past 11 am, "Look, as great as this was, I gotta go."
Danika called after her about the interview she'd promised (fingers crossed) to do, but Lana ignored her. Maybe she was being bitchy, but she didn't care. The only reason anyone was paying any attention to her now was because she could blow shit up with her bare hands; like those assholes who said they were your friend after you won the lottery. Couple that with Poey and the rest of her friends sans Kamala and Chat ditching her and she really wasn't in the mood for new besties.
Oh well, at least she still had this.
She tapped the newest number on her contacts list and smiled when her mom's voice greeted her after a couple of rings, "Hey, kiddo, you're early."
"Just 30 minutes." She passed by a few people on the hall and ducked under the paper airplane someone threw, "I dunno, I was going nuts without someone to talk to." Someone who didn't look at Lana Baumgartner and just saw Striker, at least; and she didn't even have to mention how fucked up it was that Brooke was one of the few people who did. What did it say when the person who made high school complete shit was one of the few who still treated you like you were still normal?
Lily called a few times, but Lana was kinda avoiding her. She still needed some time to process all this and living with her wouldn't have helped that. As for Pete, he was helping some redhead with...something. Honestly she wasn't sure; all Lana knew was that she'd walked in on her coming out of the shower a couple of days ago and there'd been a lot of shouting before Pete explained everything (read: nothing at all).
But hey, she was pretty forgiving about Lana wondering if she was a prostitute, so she couldn't have been all bad...
"Lunch break?"
"Yeah, mystery meat." She shivered and opened her locker to pull out her books. She still had to do that project on Egyptian History for Ms. Hassan; something about the 'last Medjay of Siwa' or whatever, "What about you? How's Wisconsin?"
"You've seen one city you've seen em all." She could practically see her mom shrug at that, "Not as much noise here, though, and no Superheroes or Supervillains. No offense, but I think that's probably the best part about being here."
"Yeah, I know what you mean," Lana replied, "How's the waitress gig going?"
"It's not glamorous, I'll tell you that: hours are longer, the customers are more demanding than the Johns, and the uniform is older than I am." There was a quick pause before she said the next words casually, "But hey, at least I don't feel ashamed to look at myself in the mirror when the day's done, so that's something."
"Yeah...leave the joking to me, mom. You kinda suck at it." No, Lana didn't like to think about the times she came home seeing her mom with smeared make up and sporting a black eye, thank you very much.
"If you say so. But hey, I saw you on the news here. You stopped some terrorist from killing people."
"More like an insane cunt with a God complex." She sighed. This what she wanted, right? To help people, to be a hero? So why did it feel so goddamn petty? "Look, I don't wanna talk about 'work' right now. I get enough of that over here."
"Sure, kiddo. Anything new elsewhere then? Maybe on that crush of yours?"
"God, mom, I told you to let that go!" Lana clicked her tongue and pointedly ignored the way her cheeks heated up, "Look, nothing's happening there, alright? I'm just gonna try to ignore it and hopefully I don't turn into one of those pining schoolgirls."
"If only it were that easy." Lana grunted in annoyance at the teasing lilt in her voice, "But fine, we'll follow your rules. Anything else that comes to mind?
They spent the next ten minutes talking about anything else but her 'part time job' and her (non-existent, if you didn't count Andrew Maguire trying to score a trophy Superhero girlfriend) love life. By the end of it she actually managed to feel somewhat better about herself...well, as better as she could be considering her mom was forced to skip town and her 'dad' treated her like she was his pet freak.
She barely said goodbye and shut her phone off before she bumped into someone, the other girl falling into the ground with a surprised yelp while she papers she held onto fell around them in a scattered heap, "Oh, shit, sorry!" Lana offered her a hand, which she took with a mumbled thank you, "I wasn't watching where I was going, totally my fault." She winced. Having that 'spider-sense' would've been really useful.
"No, it's my fault." The short haired brunette looked up to meet her gaze and Lana quickly recognized her as Gayle Watson. They weren't friends or anything, but even she could tell something was off by the bags under her eyes or how frazzled her hair looked.
"You're back in school?" she blurted out before she could stop herself, "I-I mean, I heard you were looking for your sister."
"Yeah, um, my mom thought I should try to take my mind off it." She gestured to the fallen papers, "...I wanted to put up some posters here, though. I know it's a longshot, but I figured it couldn't hurt, right?"
"Uh, well...let me just help you with this." Lana bent down and began gathering up the papers, Gayle joining her quickly afterwards. It wasn't long into the clean-up before Lana finally got a good look at the mug smacked front and center on the paper and she paused, "...No way."
"Wh-What's wrong?"
"I...I know her. I mean, I met her a couple of days ago." She held the paper closer for scrutiny and nodded. Yep, that was definitely her; only difference was she was wearing more clothes here, "Wait, when did you say she went missing again?"
"O-Over a week ago. She just flipped out and ran...we haven't seen her since." Gayle chewed on her lower lip nervously and looked her right in the eye, "Look, I just wanna make sure you actually saw her, okay? Cause we've been getting some prank calls from assholes who just want the reward."
"You can keep your cash, it's your fucking sister you're looking for, not a damn cat." Lana shook her head. What the hell had Pete gotten into? "Okay, look, let's meet up after school, alright? I can take you to your sister."
"O-Okay...thanks." Gayle gave her a tentative smile
"Don't mention it." Lana smiled back. This definitely felt better than smacking around assholes in costumes, at least.
If someone told her that she'd be in spending her afternoons with Felicia, Norah and a resurrected Peter in an abandoned warehouse a few days ago Mary Jane would've called them insane. Being friends with Gwen gave her a preview on just how fucked up Superhero life could be, but that was all she was: an outsider looking in, the side-character Gwen would've written about in her prize-winning autobiography when she was 100 years young.
Now? Well, now she was trying to avoid getting kicked in the face by Felicia.
Mary Jane ducked the roundhouse kick, only to fall into the ground with a grunt when Felicia used that as a chance to knee her in the face, "Focus, Jane," Felicia said for the umpteenth time that day. The redhead scowled and pushed herself off the ground. The temptation to claw her face off came and went, though if anyone asked her later she'd claim that she didn't need a bloodthirsty monster to want to do that to the popstar.
This was training; or at least as much as they could 'train' considering the circumstances. The warehouse was an abandoned one that the PissHead band used as a venue a couple of months ago. Officially it was condemned, but because of someone somewhere never getting around to delivering the papers no one actually bothered to get rid of the place. Norah assured them that the owner wouldn't look twice as soon as they paid him the 30 dollar rent for the day.
Gritting her teeth, Mary Jane charged forward, right fist raised to strike. Felicia raised an eyebrow, dodged the clumsy blow and, just to add insult to injury, kicked her on the small of her back and forced her on her knees again, "...This is sad, Jane. I thought you had powers now?"
"Fuck you..." She took a deep breath to try and calm herself and stood up again. The point of the exercise was two-fold: to try and teach her how to fight without the symbiote having to come out, and to see how much she could calm herself down after she kept getting pissed off. She was pretty sure Felicia was just using it as an excuse to beat on her and make fun while she did it.
"You were the one who said you wanted to fight me." Felicia shrugged, a lazy smile on her face. She had a point, but Mary Jane really wanted to wipe that smile off her face, "Though I don't see the point of you learning how to fight."
"It's so if I get attacked again I don't risk turning into that thing." Mary tried to punch her in the face, only for Felicia to side-step the blow and smack her in the jaw in turn. It hurt a lot less than she expected, "...You holding back, Felicia?"
"Yes, though I'm assuming your body's stronger as well. You wouldn't be able to keep going like you are if you were still..."
"Human?" Mary Jane asked bitterly, using the momentary silence to try for a sweeping kick. Felicia jumped over the leg and tripped Mary Jane up as she landed.
"I was going to say a mediocre singer who'd never exercised a day in her life, but if you want to be dramatic about it..." Felicia offered her a hand, which she took after some reluctance. Was Felicia trying to be tactful or just insulting her again?
"...You don't have to play nice, you know? I'm a freak now," Mary Jane mumbled,
"And yet you're still more pleasant company than the bald psychopath or Frank Castle." Felicia's smile turned wry and she stepped back slightly, "If you're expecting me to feel sorry for you, then you're out of luck, Jane. I don't care what you have attached to you right now, the same way my opinion on Spider-Woman wouldn't change on whether she had powers or not; powers or no she'd still be a self-righteous child with a messiah complex, and you're still someone who can't throw a punch to save her life."
"Don't make fun of her...and I totally went to self-defense classes before." She was pretty sure she could protect herself against a pushy asshole, but this was as far from that as she could get.
"Then I suggest you get a refund, because they're clearly not teaching you very well."
The next 30 minutes were spent sparring (read: having Felicia wail on her) before Mary Jane eventually called it quits and trudged back to the crate where Norah was sitting, her gaze focused on the notebook at her lap. Mary Jane rubbed at the non-existent bruises at her arms and sucked in a tired breath. Even with a fresh dose of suppressant her body was still tougher and stronger than it was before, though as the last half hour proved that didn't amount to much considering she could barely throw a punch.
Norah looked up from the notebook and smiled at her as she approached, "Done being the punching bag?"
"Yeah..." Mary Jane pulled back the sweat-matted hair from her forehead and winced, "Now I know how the Judo Juvenile feels."
"Hey, at least Black Cat's not making you wash her car to teach you a lesson." The blonde scooted over and tapped the space next to her, "Come on, I wanna show you what I'm working on."
"Uh...are you sure that's a good idea? I mean I'm still-"
"You just spent the past half hour getting smacked around and insulted, MJ. If you didn't change then I'm pretty sure you aren't changing now."
"Right..." Mary Jane allowed herself a small smile and sat next to Norah on the crate. She was pretty sure she looked like crap and reeked of sweat, but it wasn't like they hadn't already seen each other at their worst. She still remembered the time she went to visit Norah after she pulled a double all-nighter and found the journalist wandering around like a zombie looking for the last can of red bull.
Mary Jane looked down at the notebook and blinked at the miniature string theory connecting a bunch of (poorly drawn) figures together, "Uh...what's that?"
"My own personal web of conspiracy." Norah grinned and winked in response to MJ's look of utter confusion, "Every good journalist needs one, right? Now I just need to stay up for a couple of days straight so I can start ranting about how it's all connected and that I see the truth while all you blind lambs are ignorant to the lies you swallow."
"What are- no, I mean, I get what it is, but what's it for?"
"Matt Murdock," Norah said casually, as if she hadn't admitted just admitted to looking up info on someone who'd never gotten so much as a parking ticket; something Gwen ranted about to no end not too long ago, "I got contacted by Karen Page and she said she could use someone who had an in at the Bugle. Apparently she knew about Ben- er, Peter, and he said the same thing. So I figured why not?"
"Are you...sure that's safe?"
"Probably not, but you don't really become a journalist if you want to stay safe." Norah closed the notebook with a snap and swung her legs idly, "I mean I haven't been safe for a few months now. I was in a club where people turned to Lizards, I helped the Punisher back to one of his safehouses when he fell off a building fighting a red birdman, and of course there was 'The Incident' a few weeks ago. If my mom knew about half the stuff I've done these past few months she'd drag be back home by the ear."
"Incident, huh?" Mary Jane looked down at her hands and frowned.
"Hey, that's not your fault," Norah said immediately, her tone soft and comforting, "Look, we'll deal with this, alright? It could be worse."
"Yeah, how?"
"Uh...I'll get back to you on that." The two of them shared an incredulous laugh, "Hey, at least you're not the one who has to try and sell some story about sewage gone wrong as breaking news."
"Not on the hero beat anymore?"
"Conflict of interest." She waved a hand through the air, "I mean I know the secret identities of Spider-Man and Black Cat, I can call Peter up for an interview or expose the location of one of Frank Castle's safehouses; all of that's front page news. But I can't exactly do that since that'd just put a bigger target on their and everyone else's backs." She clicked her tongue, "Sorry about ranting about first world problems here, but it freaking sucks being a journalist who can't report about something everyone in this city wants to know."
"Yeah, guess it is..." MJ caught Felicia step out from behind on of the shipping containers dressed in her costume, mask and all. The other singer gestured for her to come closer, "Hah...back to the grind." She sighed, "Hey...thanks for being here. The past few days have been absolute shit, it's...nice to talk to a friend." And not worry about being rejected for being a freak...
"Anytime, MJ." Norah winked and nudged her head, "Now come on, back to Superhero training, and remember I get first dibs on any interviews when you finally put on a costume."
"Ha, in your dreams, Winters."
The next part of her 'training' was an obstacle course- well, she said obstacle course, but really it was just jumping and climbing the stacked shipping containers like a demented monkey; which was harder than it looked, even with her new add-ons. It was at least easier than the 'sparring' session, mostly on account of the fact that all she had to do this time was follow Felicia rather than get her face beat in.
At least the view was nice. Much as she thought Felicia's costume was dumb as hell, Mary Jane couldn't deny that it definitely drew attention in all the right places.
Peter had his doubts that any of this was worth it, but she figured it couldn't hurt. Wasn't there a movie or something about how better control of the body led to better control of the mind? Hell, if nothing else it was a good distraction. If she was jumping through shipping containers and playing every teenage kung-fu hero cliche ever then she was too busy to think about just how she'd nearly murdered her dad...
'Focus.' She waited for Felicia to go ahead before she quickly followed. It didn't take long for her to realize that she'd miscalculated, which became painfully clear when she face-planted on the side of the wall and fell back-first onto the shipping container stacked below. It didn't hurt as much she thought it would've, but the sight of Felicia smirking down at her more-or-less cut through whatever pride she had left.
"MJ, you okay?" Norah called.
"I-I'm fine!" she shouted back quickly, rubbing her nose with a grimace as she did. Great, so both of them saw it. Small mercies that Peter went outside for a food run cause she didn't need everyone getting on her ass about it.
"Need some help there, Jane?" Mary Jane gave her the middle finger and forced herself up. Felicia laughed under her breath at the vulgar gesture and knelt at the edge of the container before offering her hand down, "Come on, no shame in it."
Mary Jane wanted to rebuke her, she really did, but the temptation to jump up was off-set by the risk of overshooting and clocking herself in the face again. Sighing, the redhead pulled back the sweat-soaked hair from her forehead and allowed Felicia to pull her up, the other singer straining slightly at her weight before she eventually pulled her up to the top container so they could sit side by side.
"...Thanks." She sat at the edge of the container and panted, swinging her legs lazily.
"Don't mention it. I suppose it's my fault for distracting you in the first place." Mary Jane scoffed at Felicia's cocky grin, though she didn't deny it. It wasn't like she was wrong per se... "...I hope you don't mind my saying, but this is rather bizarre, isn't it?"
"What, you mean me getting a mass murdering monster attached to me or the fact that despite all that I still can't avoid smacking my face on walls?"
"I was more referring to the fact that we're sitting next to each other without trying to kill one another, but again you have a point." Felicia leaned back and Mary Jane pointedly looked away. She really needed a better costume, "Oh, and of course that two people in the same band could have powers. The odds are unlikely, don't you think?"
"Yeah, I know what you-" Mary Jane froze and her eyes widened. Did she just... "Uh, wh-what do you mean?"
"You know, you and Stacy," she said the last word in a whisper, no doubt to avoid Norah overhearing.
"H-How did you-"
"Ben and May Parker have loose lips," she said coolly, "Honestly, though, I should have figured it out sooner. How else could Spider-Woman have arrived so soon when Murdock and I had our fight? I didn't think of it at the time, but it does make sense."
"Yeah, I guess..." Mary Jane wiped her hands on her shirt and looked down at the ground, "You're...taking this really well, and I'm not just talking about Spider-Woman."
"These past few months have been...bizarre." She laughed at that, though it sounded more annoyed and bitter than anything else, "I thought Murdock was just a blind lawyer, a human, but instead I find that he's supposedly possessed by a literal devil and that I never had any actual chance in killing him. Now I'm forced to rely on the aid of a group of psychopaths and would-be oracles and hope that Spider actually cares enough to stop him."
"Why are you after the Kingpin so bad? Did he piss in your cornflakes or something?"
"We all have our reasons, Jane." Mary Jane rolled her eyes at the vague answer. She expected nothing less, "Truth be told the only reason I'm helping with this is because I'm hoping that once you gain some sort of stability Spider and I can return to what we were doing before."
Mary Jane was about to say something before she heard the muted sounds of a motorcycle engine followed by Peter stepping inside carrying a bag full of greasy, low-budget takeout, "Just what the doctor ordered." She let herself fall to the floor and made her way to him, a small smile on her face. Seeing him always helped her calm down nowadays, and it wasn't just because he always made sure to carry suppressant with him just in case.
Five minutes and one injection later they were all sitting in a circle in a makeshift table made up of crates with a pile of take-out at the center. Mary Jane bit into the chicken leg greedily and just listened to the other three talking about whatever came to mind; she couldn't understand half of it, but the white noise was still relaxing. For a second she almost felt normal...well, as normal as she could be considering she was sitting with a resurrected vigilante, a thieving popstar and a journalist who seemed to cover up more news than she reported.
"That hasn't healed yet?" Norah asked suddenly, gesturing to the nasty gash on her right arm.
"Don't think it will..." Mary Jane frowned. That was where that monster seeped through that night, the place it called 'home'.
"Oh...well, I think it's cool. There's that saying about how scars are sexy, right?" Norah said quickly. Mary Jane snorted. The attempt at comfort was poor, but she appreciated it anyway.
"Forget about the scar, what about your 'training'?" Peter asked, looking between her and Felicia warily, "Did Felicia do anything?"
"Where's the trust, Spider? Jane's a big girl, she doesn't need you hovering over her," Felicia replied lightly.
"You've seen what that thing attached to her can do, Cat..." And more. Mary Jane gulped down her chicken nervously and took a deep breath. Neither her or Peter talked about what happened that night, what she nearly did to him...it still made her sick to think about it, "Teresa made things worse by forcing her to change so we need to pay attention to any signs that her control might be slipping."
"You've told us this before; repeating it won't change anything." Felicia rolled her eyes and set her noodles down, "Look, Jane's clumsy and inexperienced, but from what I've seen she hasn't done anything that indicates that she'll turn into that monster Kasady."
"Sorry if I'm being stupid here, but why can't we just go to S.H.I.E.L.D or Spider-Woman?" Norah asked, "Seems like they'd be the best option here, right?"
"Yeah, if you wanna put that thing back to the people that created it." Peter scoffed.
"Created...wait, are you saying S.H.I.E.L.D made that thing?"
"Yeah, though the cover story blames someone else." Peter sneered down at his plate of barely eaten food, "They saw those 'Silk' shitheels had a symbiote and they thought that it'd be a good idea for them to try and make their own. Guess they didn't count on it going loose on a killing spree..." And for Gwen to kill it. Mary Jane still found it hard to believe. Gwen was the most adamant person she knew about refusing to take a life, had been ever since Peter died...well, died and came back.
"Corruption, then? How surprising," Felicia said sarcastically.
"This is...huge." Norah set her food down and took a deep breath, "I mean, that's like government conspiracy level stuff. I wonder if Robbie and Urich will let me make a story on it."
"Not likely. The spooks have probably erased all trace of their fingers on the pot and if you try they'll just shut it down and come up with a counter story to discredit you, and that's the best case scenario. Worst case they just kill you and give some spiel that it's for the greater good that they don't get to pay for what they did like Osborn..."
"Wait, Osborn? The head of Oscorp?"
"Not him, his prodigal son." Peter sighed, "Look, no point in bringing it up, Summers; we can't change anything." He made a gesture and pointed to one of the smaller shipping containers, "Break's over, Mary. Time to test how strong you are."
The answer that question was 'apparently strong enough to lift at least 2.5 tons over her head', though she would've been lying if she said it was easy. Mary Jane grunted and scrunched her face from the effort of keeping the container balanced with both hands. Was this how Gwen felt when she lifted all those cars and rubble on TV? No, stupid question. Gwen made it look easy while she felt like she was lifting a dozen barbells stacked on top of one another.
Seeing the look of subdued surprise from Felicia and the wide eyed gape from Norah was worth it, though - it'd probably be the first and last time she'd ever make either of the two speechless. Peter's expression remained unreadable, though that didn't surprise her - hanging around Gwen all day probably made whatever she did less impressive.
She was about to set it down before Peter's head snapped to the entrance and he suddenly spoke up, "Someone's coming." He managed to put on his mask just before the door opened and-
Oh, fuck.
Mary Jane stood stock still, face frozen in shock, as Gayle stepped past Peter's ward and their eyes met. Gayle's look of surprise mirrored her own, "MJ...?" Her little sister's gaze shifted from her eyes to look up, and it was only after MJ finally remembered that she was still lifting the shipping container that she realized how bad this all must have looked.
"G-Gayle-"
"Lana, what the hell?" Peter interrupted with a hiss. He stomped towards the younger girl and said something else she couldn't make out, which she used as a chance to set the container down as gently as she could.
By which she meant dropping it like a ninny with enough force that everyone on the next few blocks heard the impact. Mary Jane cringed at the ringing headache she suddenly got, but apart from Gayle covering her mouth with both hands no one else seemed to care about the loud boom. Lana even continued to look up at Peter with an annoyed look on her face.
"What? I told you I was going to come!" she snapped back.
"You didn't mention a friend." Peter turned to Gayle and the younger girl shrunk back, her shoulders shaking. He always had that effect on people, from what she'd seen of him, "Get her out of here."
"Why? That's her sister, right?" Mary Jane was almost tempted to curl in on herself when Lana pointed at her, "She's been missing for about a week, apparently, but then I find out she's been crashing at your place doing fuck only knows what. They've been looking for her for days, Spidey!"
"You-"
"Stop it!" Gayle suddenly yelled, looking on the verge of tears, "I-I just wanna talk to my sister!"
"Kid, this isn't a good-"
"Spider, that's enough," Felicia said. Mary Jane could practically feel the glare from underneath the mask, but the part-time thief just looked back at him coolly, "You should know when to cut your losses. Jane's sister has already seen her; shutting her out will just create more trouble."
"I...gotta agree with Black Cat," Norah added, though her voice was more uncertain, "I don't think we can pull off the Women in White thing here."
Peter looked at Gayle for what felt like hours before he eventually sighed, "...Fine. We can stay here and-"
"A-Actually, Tiger, I'd rather speak to her alone." She raised both hands to stop his incoming rebuttal, "Look, you'll be right outside and I'll even cuff myself if you want, but I want- no, I need to talk to her myself. Please?"
Another frustrated breath came and went, "Fine, it's your funeral." Mary Jane cringed. Did he really have to say it like that? "We'll be close, so if you feel even slightly like that thing's trying to claw its way out then just scream. We don't want to take any chances."
The rest of them filed out, Peter and Lana arguing as they went, and eventually it was just her and Gayle alone. Mary Jane clenched her fists nervously and took a few tentative steps forward while her sister did the same. Neither of them stopped till they were right in front of each other, the pair separated by only a scant couple of feet. Mary Jane was tempted to reach out and touch her, but she held back. She needed to talk first.
"...Hey." Mary Jane said.
"Hey..." Gayle mumbled back.
She cringed; this was off to a great start... "I...alright, look I know this-"
"We were looking for you, MJ." The change from the almost teary-eyed look to anger made Mary Jane step back at the suddenness of it, "I...do you have any idea how worried we were? How me and mom-" she sucked in a deep, shaky breath, "-I...we thought you were just gone. Left the city, dead or...or something! You just attacked mom and left without any explanation!"
"Gayle-"
"A-And now you're spending time w-with freaking Supervillains!" Gayle continued, voice rising to a yell. Mary Jane chose not to correct her on the 'Supervillain' bit, "Do you have any idea how worried mom was?! She hasn't slept in days! We tried calling your phone, putting up posters, going to the police...God, I thought you were-"
"I was a danger to you!" she finally said, so loud that she was sure everyone outside heard it, "You saw what I did! I hurt mom, I nearly-" Nearly killed her dad. She kept coming back to that. Everyone else - those rapists in the alley and the assholes who tried to kidnap Gwen - she blamed that on the monster. Her dad was hers, "-Gayle...I'm losing my mind. I couldn't come back."
"Wait, what do you mean by that?"
"I mean I'm going fucking insane." Mary Jane brought both hands across her face and sucked in a deep breath.
"I-I don't get it. I mean, I saw you lifting that shipping container, so I-I'm guessing you have powers, but-"
"I'm not like Spider-Woman or She-Hulk, sis." Her lips curled up in a bitter smile, "I...okay, you remember The Incident? That, uh, killer who went on a rampage?" Stupid question; that was like asking if she remembered the Red Skull's 7-9 terror attack. Of course she'd remember.
"Y...Yeah?"
"Well, that thing...Captain America said in the interview that the guy - Cletus Kasady, I think - got his powers from somewhere else. Something she called a Symbiote. Well..."
"Wait, you're saying..." Mary Jane didn't have to nod. Gayle gasped and suddenly gripped her shoulders in a vice-grip, "That thing that made him into that monster...you have it now?"
"Yeah..." It felt like a condemnation, saying it out loud like she did, but it also felt...good, in a way, "I was passing through an alley and I got attacked. I cut my arm trying to run and..." She paused and showed off the gash, "It...seeped in through the wound. The people that attacked me...it wasn't pretty, what happened." Understatement of the fucking year right there. What next? That the monster was 'just a bit off-key'?
"I...I still don't understand why you can't come back. L-Look, you freaked out because of your, uh, powers, so let's just explain it to mom so we can-"
"It's not the powers!" she snapped, "I told you I was going nuts and I meant it. This...thing, it's alive, Gayle. I...I hear it's voice in my head, screaming at me to just...just kill people. We're trying to get a handle on it, but I-I don't think it's safe to come back. Not yet." Or ever, the cynical part of her mind said. Teresa's warning echoed back: the suppressants were losing effect. She had no idea if that was true, but the thought of it was worrying enough.
"God..." Gayle paced briefly and muttered under her breath, "Okay, so...what do we do?"
"We aren't doing anything. You're going to go home and wait. I'll...I'll call you again if- when I get a handle on this thing." Yeah, when would that be? Considering she was puking her lunch out a few days ago she wasn't feeling so confident.
"W-Well, I gotta tell mom and your friends-"
"No, you can't tell them!" It scared Mary Jane just how fierce her voice sounded just then, "I...okay, okay, you can tell mom. Just say that you found me and that I'm alright and I'll call her tonight. And tell her not to worry cause I'll be home soon and...that I'm sorry for hurting her."
"What about your friends?"
"They can't know. Just tell them police are on it and they can just wait, alright?" She knew she was just stalling, but she wasn't ready to face Gwen and the rest of them. Not yet, "Look, I'm sorry for worrying you, but until this thing's under control I can't go back, so I want you to promise me that you won't tell anyone what's actually happened."
"What? What the hell am I supposed to tell mom?"
"I dunno, think of something! You're a writer, aren't you? This should be easy!"
"Easier said than done, MJ!" Gayle countered. Mary Jane just found it a relief that she didn't look sad or pissed anymore, "Fuck, this is some heavy stuff...I mean, I've read comics and fanfics, but I didn't think this kind of stuff would happen to my freaking sister!"
"I didn't want it either, Gayle!" Just like Gwen didn't choose to get bitten by that spider or Peter didn't choose to come back from the dead with fucked up memories - and from those two only Peter had to deal with a murderous voice in his head like she did, so at least she wasn't alone, "Look, I'm...more-or-less alright, so don't worry."
"Yeah, don't worry after you told me you have a Jeckyll and Hyde thing going on." Gayle out an incredulous laugh, "Okay, I'll be back here tomorrow-"
"Absolutely not-"
"Absolutely yes!" she yelled over her objection, "Look, I don't think I'm gonna be much help, but...fuck, MJ, you're my sister! Do you really think I'm just going to sit on my butt at home while you're going through this?"
"I was hoping, yeah..."
"Tough." For the first time in days she saw her sister smile, and it was more of a relief than she thought it'd be, "I mean, I'm still worried that you turned to a Supervillain for help, but we can deal with that later."
"Hey, Tiger's alright. He helped protect the city, remember?"
"You can't take over the city if there is no city." Gayle shrugged. Mary Jane was pretty sure she just had a grudge about him dating her Superhero crush, "But I'll take your world for it."
Before she could offer a rebuttal her sister closed the gap and pulled her into a tight embrace. Mary Jane froze at the sudden gesture before she eventually reciprocated, her mouth raising in a smile. It wasn't perfect, but she'd take it.
MJ was missing.
Gwen swung through the air in large leaps, her face stuck in a scowl underneath her mask. She'd been so busy with everything else this past week that she'd dismissed MJ going MIA as just her taking some time off and maybe going to a party or two. It was only an hour ago that she finally ran into Mrs. Watson and realized just how bad it was: MJ ran off and hadn't made contact in over for a week. That was worrying, and that was coming from a prime ditcher like her.
So she put on her costume and swung around, cause she had no idea what else she could do. Was it likely she was going to find MJ just walking down the street? Probably not, but Glory and Betty had already put up posters and she had her dad call in a favor to his old police buddies to bump MJ up on the priority list so there wasn't much else she could do. They didn't need any more posters put up, they needed a clue.
She swung around for hours, but (as expected) she had no luck. Sighing, she swung into the alley next to the Dollar Dog and let the costume melt away, "Damn it..." She opened up her cellphone and texted Glory and Betty, immediately getting a 'no luck' and 'no dice' in response. She frowned and stuffed the phone back into her pocket. Where the hell was she? This wasn't like her.
Gwen trudged inside the dollar dog and pulled out a crumpled bill from her wallet. Right, quick snack break then she'd go back out there, maybe pay a visit to Norah after she met up with her friends and see if she knew anything. Hey, if anyone could help it'd be a journalist, right?
"Hey, Mr. Albie," she greeted the crusty cashier with a small grin. He was a grumpy boss in the short time she'd known him and he was a cheapskate besides, but she couldn't hate him. He had a point on just how often his shop got trashed and robbed.
"Ah...blonde girl, welcome." Gwen rolled her eyes. He always sucked at names; even her name tag had Glenn Spacey on it, "You want the usual?"
"Yeah, uh...just gimme everything except MJ's order."
"'Em Jay'? You mean the redhead girl?"
"Yeah, she's uh...she's missing." She licked her lips and looked down at her feet. Her dad and her friends would've told her that it was understandable she hadn't noticed, but that didn't stop the bubbling guilt in her stomach.
"Missing?" He typed the order into the register and snorted, "Saw her here two days ago, said she was not missing and your friends were just making a big deal out of nothing."
"Wait...what?!" She slammed her hands on the counter and resisted the urge to shake him like a madwoman, "Y-You saw her? Are you sure?"
"Yeah, young redhead, even corrected me when I got your name wrong," He jerked his thumb to one of the side tables, "She was kissing a midget in that booth over there after they got one of everything on the menu."
"A...midget?" Gwen blinked. MJ was dating carnies now? "Wait, run that by me again? Who's this midget?"
"I don't know his name. Brown hair and eyes, dark jacket...eh, nothing unique about him." He scratched his chin, "Oh, yeah, she called him Tiger, but that's it."
Gwen immediately felt like she'd punched in the gut. Tiger...no, it couldn't be. Peter would tell her if- he wouldn't lie to her like that, right? It wasn't like she'd been honest all the time with him, but he'd definitely bring it up if he'd been seeing MJ after she went 'missing'.
And he definitely wouldn't have been kissing her...right?
"C-Could you tell me anything more about this guy?"
"I thought you were looking for your friend, now you're asking about the dwarf?" He grunted, "Well, fine, but don't tell this to anyone else: guy was really...intense. Two punks tried to rob me and he beat them down. Threw coffee in one's eyes before knocking him out and then threatened another one with his own gun after he stabbed him through the right hand with a knife. Asking about something called Jack-o-Lantern."
"Jack-o-Lantern..." That sick fuck who killed all those people at Times Square...it was definitely Peter, then; he still held a grudge over it. But that meant... "A-Are you sure they kissed?" No, wait, that wasn't what was important here. Mr. Albie saw her, which meant MJ was still okay, at least a few days ago. Who cared if they were kissing?
...
God damn it, she did.
"Definitely. She was crying about something and then she kissed him." Mr. Albie replied, "Why, what's it matter to you? This what you had a fight about?"
"I...no, no that's not..." she trailed off and looked down. What the hell was going on? First MJ went missing and now apparently she's going on dates and telling people that she just had a fight with her friends? It didn't add up. And her kissing Peter... "Just...you know what, cancel my order. I suddenly lost my appetite."
She made her way to the entrance and stared blankly as Bodega Bandit strolled in with his head held high, Pine Cone oddly absent on his shoulder.
It at least meant she wouldn't have to feel guilty for doing what she did next.
He'd barely managed to declare 'The Bodega Bandit is back-' before she grabbed him by the front of the shirt and tossed him into the nearby dumpster, "Stay put." She slammed the lid shut and bent the metal so he couldn't get out. Maybe it was mean of her, but fuck it she wasn't in the mood to deal with his antics.
She should've been happy, right? MJ was (apparently) okay and from how Mr. Albie talked about her she must've looked normal enough not to draw attention. On the other hand apparently she'd been pretending that everything was okay and, oh yeah, kissing her (sorta) boyfriend!
Gwen waited to make sure she was alone before she let the suit cover her again and swung towards Peter's apartment. She needed answers. Now.
Done. Alright, first things first I apologize for the ending and how Gwen acts in it. A decent amount of readers will find her reaction understandable - especially given that her and Peter's relationship only recently stabilized and now he's apparently cheating on her - but others might might find it ridiculous that she cares so much when she has more important things to worry about like her mom's resurrection or MJ still being technically MIA.
All I can say is I hope that it's alright. And besides, I don't plan to create an entire arc of misunderstandings and rom-com shenanigans since it's not my style.
Questions:
1. Which chapter next: we can have that belated dinner date between Matt and Peter (and it would hold off on Gwen barging into Peter's apartment since he wouldn't be there) or we can continue with the Carnage plotline so we can finally get some payoff. Either that or I can finally make that Howard the Duck omake where Noir, Howard and a (tagging along cause she thought it was funny) Norah try to solve a case.
So either plot (pick which one) or another omake similar to the Frog-Man chapter.
2. Does anyone mind the tonal shift in Noir's segments? Originally it was pretty focused on street crime and human evil, and while the latter is still in focus (thanks, Jack) the former went way off the wayside ever since Teresa showed up and gave that swerve about Murdock being literally possessed by TEH DEVIL! rather than just being a normal human asshole. Now it feels like a poor man's Ghost Rider and I'm not sure if it's still okay.
3. Another bite the bullet question. So I've been getting comments that people want cameos or appearances from other dimensional characters like Mayday Parker, 616, Miles Kaine etc etc. Alright, I'll bite: I can't put these characters in the fic as more dimensionally displaced heroes - it's bloated enough as it is and they'd have no role - but would you guys like an arc where Noir and/or Gwen go to the other dimensions temporarily?
I can even make it part of the fic depending on how I structure later story events. So yeah, if you do want it then mention which world. Spider-Girl's world of Earth-982? The Ultimate Universe of Earth-1610? The Amazing 8 universe where Gwen and Miles got married and created a utopia? Web Warriors? And yes, despite my hesitance, even Earth-616 (though if you just want Spider-Gwen and 616 interactions then I recommend you read Tangled Webs).
Besides that I've been reading more on the old Howard the Duck comics and the recent Punisher ones. The former was funny but not that enlightening - apart from the fact that Howard was literally fucking a human woman - but the latter portrays Punisher as having a bit of a downplayed sense of humor. I'll try to add that when he comes back into the focus again later.
Oh, and before we start: what would you guys think of a hypothetical 'Volume 2' set after the 4 big bads are taken care of? I've gotten comments to this effect before and it would be a good place to set the cut arcs. Main problem here is that it wouldn't have a main plot at all, which would really just drag this out even more than it already did. OTOH Spider-Island would make more sense given the scale, so...
Side Note - I've gotten comments on Mary Jane mentioning San Fransokyo and I'll answer this here: whether it's a genuine crossover or just a tongue-in-cheek reference is up to you. Gwen mentions Miraculous Ladybug, Cindy mentioned Watch Dogs and so on and so forth. Given that these characters never appear on-screen you can basically pick and choose how you view it.
Chapter 96: Eye of the Symbiote
"Saw you on the news last night."
Lana looked up from her tray of mystery meat and gave Danika a withering stare as the older girl sat across from her, "Here I thought I could have some peace and quiet..." She picked at the brown slab of meat and sighed. It'd been a few days since 'daddy dearest' outed her, and while the stares and whispers were less frequent now there were still a few people who refused to let shit go.
Such as the aforementioned Danika Hart, who seemed to get it in her skull that just because she was a cape chaser (read: Superhero stalker) that made them buddies now.
"Just thought you'd want to know how the city's seeing you." Danika shrugged, completely ignoring Lana's flat look of annoyance, "I mean the bad guy you stopped last night was apparently a rising name in the villain scene. Kaboom, if I'm remembering right?"
"All I know is she was a crazy bitch," Lana said, looking back down at her food. She didn't even know what that asshole's deal was. One second Lana was walking down the street and then the next a big-headed shitheel comes blazing down the street firing off lightning and screaming about how Manhattan was under new management, that her power made her better than all the 'lesser beings' and that they had no choice but to follow her rules cause she was better than them.
She wasn't feeling so smug after Lana punched her right in the jaw with an exploding fist. Not that she needed to; Lana was pretty sure the cops (or Pete...or the Punisher...or that bald psycho) would've shot her in the gut once they showed up. Electricity didn't stop bullets from hurting - that Electro bitch a few months ago was proof of that.
"Either way it's a real boost," Danika continued, "According to what I've managed to dig up this Kaboom person got her powers a couple of days ago and was terrorizing the city when she could cause apparently she thought she was the only Superpowered person in Manhattan." Danika laughed at that, and Lana (almost) smiled. Considering her track record it was a miracle Spider-Woman or one of the Avengers hadn't gotten to her first, "So the news is singing your praises right now."
"Yeah, vote William Hollister." Lana rolled her eyes. She was sure that prick would appreciate it, at least. It would keep him off her back for at least another week.
"Is that your catchphrase or something? Seems like that's all you say whenever the reporters or the police try to question you."
"What else is there to say? I'm a freak in a city full of them." She chewed on the 'food' and grimaced. Yep, she definitely needed to start packing her lunch, "What's it to you, anyway? I told you I'd do an interview if I have some free time."
"Really? Cause it seems like you're just waiting me out and hoping I get bored."
"Gee, I wonder what gave you that idea." Lana gave the older girl a wry grin.
"Just a hunch." She hummed, "So, any luck finding the guy or gal who tagged your locker?"
"Nope." And she really didn't care to all that much. Freak, slut, punk, uptight bitch...there was always something someone would call her out on being no matter how far from the truth it was. Least she really was a freak; she'd take being called that over being called a slut who blew the entire football team. Besides, nowadays she didn't have to worry about getting harassed to her face. Apart from Brooke a lot of people weren't stupid enough to run up on someone who could go Carrie on their asses.
"And...you don't care?"
"I'm really worried over it, believe me." No wonder Pete and the others were always so sarcastic; anyone would be if they had to deal with strangers suddenly butting into their business.
"Okay, is sarcasm just a hero thing? Like is that a requirement now?"
"Yeah, along with stupid costumes." She looked down at her phone and smiled slightly when she saw that it was half past 11 am, "Look, as great as this was, I gotta go."
Danika called after her about the interview she'd promised (fingers crossed) to do, but Lana ignored her. Maybe she was being bitchy, but she didn't care. The only reason anyone was paying any attention to her now was because she could blow shit up with her bare hands; like those assholes who said they were your friend after you won the lottery. Couple that with Poey and the rest of her friends sans Kamala and Chat ditching her and she really wasn't in the mood for new besties.
Oh well, at least she still had this.
She tapped the newest number on her contacts list and smiled when her mom's voice greeted her after a couple of rings, "Hey, kiddo, you're early."
"Just 30 minutes." She passed by a few people on the hall and ducked under the paper airplane someone threw, "I dunno, I was going nuts without someone to talk to." Someone who didn't look at Lana Baumgartner and just saw Striker, at least; and she didn't even have to mention how fucked up it was that Brooke was one of the few people who did. What did it say when the person who made high school complete shit was one of the few who still treated you like you were still normal?
Lily called a few times, but Lana was kinda avoiding her. She still needed some time to process all this and living with her wouldn't have helped that. As for Pete, he was helping some redhead with...something. Honestly she wasn't sure; all Lana knew was that she'd walked in on her coming out of the shower a couple of days ago and there'd been a lot of shouting before Pete explained everything (read: nothing at all).
But hey, she was pretty forgiving about Lana wondering if she was a prostitute, so she couldn't have been all bad...
"Lunch break?"
"Yeah, mystery meat." She shivered and opened her locker to pull out her books. She still had to do that project on Egyptian History for Ms. Hassan; something about the 'last Medjay of Siwa' or whatever, "What about you? How's Wisconsin?"
"You've seen one city you've seen em all." She could practically see her mom shrug at that, "Not as much noise here, though, and no Superheroes or Supervillains. No offense, but I think that's probably the best part about being here."
"Yeah, I know what you mean," Lana replied, "How's the waitress gig going?"
"It's not glamorous, I'll tell you that: hours are longer, the customers are more demanding than the Johns, and the uniform is older than I am." There was a quick pause before she said the next words casually, "But hey, at least I don't feel ashamed to look at myself in the mirror when the day's done, so that's something."
"Yeah...leave the joking to me, mom. You kinda suck at it." No, Lana didn't like to think about the times she came home seeing her mom with smeared make up and sporting a black eye, thank you very much.
"If you say so. But hey, I saw you on the news here. You stopped some terrorist from killing people."
"More like an insane cunt with a God complex." She sighed. This what she wanted, right? To help people, to be a hero? So why did it feel so goddamn petty? "Look, I don't wanna talk about 'work' right now. I get enough of that over here."
"Sure, kiddo. Anything new elsewhere then? Maybe on that crush of yours?"
"God, mom, I told you to let that go!" Lana clicked her tongue and pointedly ignored the way her cheeks heated up, "Look, nothing's happening there, alright? I'm just gonna try to ignore it and hopefully I don't turn into one of those pining schoolgirls."
"If only it were that easy." Lana grunted in annoyance at the teasing lilt in her voice, "But fine, we'll follow your rules. Anything else that comes to mind?
They spent the next ten minutes talking about anything else but her 'part time job' and her (non-existent, if you didn't count Andrew Maguire trying to score a trophy Superhero girlfriend) love life. By the end of it she actually managed to feel somewhat better about herself...well, as better as she could be considering her mom was forced to skip town and her 'dad' treated her like she was his pet freak.
She barely said goodbye and shut her phone off before she bumped into someone, the other girl falling into the ground with a surprised yelp while she papers she held onto fell around them in a scattered heap, "Oh, shit, sorry!" Lana offered her a hand, which she took with a mumbled thank you, "I wasn't watching where I was going, totally my fault." She winced. Having that 'spider-sense' would've been really useful.
"No, it's my fault." The short haired brunette looked up to meet her gaze and Lana quickly recognized her as Gayle Watson. They weren't friends or anything, but even she could tell something was off by the bags under her eyes or how frazzled her hair looked.
"You're back in school?" she blurted out before she could stop herself, "I-I mean, I heard you were looking for your sister."
"Yeah, um, my mom thought I should try to take my mind off it." She gestured to the fallen papers, "...I wanted to put up some posters here, though. I know it's a longshot, but I figured it couldn't hurt, right?"
"Uh, well...let me just help you with this." Lana bent down and began gathering up the papers, Gayle joining her quickly afterwards. It wasn't long into the clean-up before Lana finally got a good look at the mug smacked front and center on the paper and she paused, "...No way."
"Wh-What's wrong?"
"I...I know her. I mean, I met her a couple of days ago." She held the paper closer for scrutiny and nodded. Yep, that was definitely her; only difference was she was wearing more clothes here, "Wait, when did you say she went missing again?"
"O-Over a week ago. She just flipped out and ran...we haven't seen her since." Gayle chewed on her lower lip nervously and looked her right in the eye, "Look, I just wanna make sure you actually saw her, okay? Cause we've been getting some prank calls from assholes who just want the reward."
"You can keep your cash, it's your fucking sister you're looking for, not a damn cat." Lana shook her head. What the hell had Pete gotten into? "Okay, look, let's meet up after school, alright? I can take you to your sister."
"O-Okay...thanks." Gayle gave her a tentative smile
"Don't mention it." Lana smiled back. This definitely felt better than smacking around assholes in costumes, at least.
If someone told her that she'd be in spending her afternoons with Felicia, Norah and a resurrected Peter in an abandoned warehouse a few days ago Mary Jane would've called them insane. Being friends with Gwen gave her a preview on just how fucked up Superhero life could be, but that was all she was: an outsider looking in, the side-character Gwen would've written about in her prize-winning autobiography when she was 100 years young.
Now? Well, now she was trying to avoid getting kicked in the face by Felicia.
Mary Jane ducked the roundhouse kick, only to fall into the ground with a grunt when Felicia used that as a chance to knee her in the face, "Focus, Jane," Felicia said for the umpteenth time that day. The redhead scowled and pushed herself off the ground. The temptation to claw her face off came and went, though if anyone asked her later she'd claim that she didn't need a bloodthirsty monster to want to do that to the popstar.
This was training; or at least as much as they could 'train' considering the circumstances. The warehouse was an abandoned one that the PissHead band used as a venue a couple of months ago. Officially it was condemned, but because of someone somewhere never getting around to delivering the papers no one actually bothered to get rid of the place. Norah assured them that the owner wouldn't look twice as soon as they paid him the 30 dollar rent for the day.
Gritting her teeth, Mary Jane charged forward, right fist raised to strike. Felicia raised an eyebrow, dodged the clumsy blow and, just to add insult to injury, kicked her on the small of her back and forced her on her knees again, "...This is sad, Jane. I thought you had powers now?"
"Fuck you..." She took a deep breath to try and calm herself and stood up again. The point of the exercise was two-fold: to try and teach her how to fight without the symbiote having to come out, and to see how much she could calm herself down after she kept getting pissed off. She was pretty sure Felicia was just using it as an excuse to beat on her and make fun while she did it.
"You were the one who said you wanted to fight me." Felicia shrugged, a lazy smile on her face. She had a point, but Mary Jane really wanted to wipe that smile off her face, "Though I don't see the point of you learning how to fight."
"It's so if I get attacked again I don't risk turning into that thing." Mary tried to punch her in the face, only for Felicia to side-step the blow and smack her in the jaw in turn. It hurt a lot less than she expected, "...You holding back, Felicia?"
"Yes, though I'm assuming your body's stronger as well. You wouldn't be able to keep going like you are if you were still..."
"Human?" Mary Jane asked bitterly, using the momentary silence to try for a sweeping kick. Felicia jumped over the leg and tripped Mary Jane up as she landed.
"I was going to say a mediocre singer who'd never exercised a day in her life, but if you want to be dramatic about it..." Felicia offered her a hand, which she took after some reluctance. Was Felicia trying to be tactful or just insulting her again?
"...You don't have to play nice, you know? I'm a freak now," Mary Jane mumbled,
"And yet you're still more pleasant company than the bald psychopath or Frank Castle." Felicia's smile turned wry and she stepped back slightly, "If you're expecting me to feel sorry for you, then you're out of luck, Jane. I don't care what you have attached to you right now, the same way my opinion on Spider-Woman wouldn't change on whether she had powers or not; powers or no she'd still be a self-righteous child with a messiah complex, and you're still someone who can't throw a punch to save her life."
"Don't make fun of her...and I totally went to self-defense classes before." She was pretty sure she could protect herself against a pushy asshole, but this was as far from that as she could get.
"Then I suggest you get a refund, because they're clearly not teaching you very well."
The next 30 minutes were spent sparring (read: having Felicia wail on her) before Mary Jane eventually called it quits and trudged back to the crate where Norah was sitting, her gaze focused on the notebook at her lap. Mary Jane rubbed at the non-existent bruises at her arms and sucked in a tired breath. Even with a fresh dose of suppressant her body was still tougher and stronger than it was before, though as the last half hour proved that didn't amount to much considering she could barely throw a punch.
Norah looked up from the notebook and smiled at her as she approached, "Done being the punching bag?"
"Yeah..." Mary Jane pulled back the sweat-matted hair from her forehead and winced, "Now I know how the Judo Juvenile feels."
"Hey, at least Black Cat's not making you wash her car to teach you a lesson." The blonde scooted over and tapped the space next to her, "Come on, I wanna show you what I'm working on."
"Uh...are you sure that's a good idea? I mean I'm still-"
"You just spent the past half hour getting smacked around and insulted, MJ. If you didn't change then I'm pretty sure you aren't changing now."
"Right..." Mary Jane allowed herself a small smile and sat next to Norah on the crate. She was pretty sure she looked like crap and reeked of sweat, but it wasn't like they hadn't already seen each other at their worst. She still remembered the time she went to visit Norah after she pulled a double all-nighter and found the journalist wandering around like a zombie looking for the last can of red bull.
Mary Jane looked down at the notebook and blinked at the miniature string theory connecting a bunch of (poorly drawn) figures together, "Uh...what's that?"
"My own personal web of conspiracy." Norah grinned and winked in response to MJ's look of utter confusion, "Every good journalist needs one, right? Now I just need to stay up for a couple of days straight so I can start ranting about how it's all connected and that I see the truth while all you blind lambs are ignorant to the lies you swallow."
"What are- no, I mean, I get what it is, but what's it for?"
"Matt Murdock," Norah said casually, as if she hadn't admitted just admitted to looking up info on someone who'd never gotten so much as a parking ticket; something Gwen ranted about to no end not too long ago, "I got contacted by Karen Page and she said she could use someone who had an in at the Bugle. Apparently she knew about Ben- er, Peter, and he said the same thing. So I figured why not?"
"Are you...sure that's safe?"
"Probably not, but you don't really become a journalist if you want to stay safe." Norah closed the notebook with a snap and swung her legs idly, "I mean I haven't been safe for a few months now. I was in a club where people turned to Lizards, I helped the Punisher back to one of his safehouses when he fell off a building fighting a red birdman, and of course there was 'The Incident' a few weeks ago. If my mom knew about half the stuff I've done these past few months she'd drag be back home by the ear."
"Incident, huh?" Mary Jane looked down at her hands and frowned.
"Hey, that's not your fault," Norah said immediately, her tone soft and comforting, "Look, we'll deal with this, alright? It could be worse."
"Yeah, how?"
"Uh...I'll get back to you on that." The two of them shared an incredulous laugh, "Hey, at least you're not the one who has to try and sell some story about sewage gone wrong as breaking news."
"Not on the hero beat anymore?"
"Conflict of interest." She waved a hand through the air, "I mean I know the secret identities of Spider-Man and Black Cat, I can call Peter up for an interview or expose the location of one of Frank Castle's safehouses; all of that's front page news. But I can't exactly do that since that'd just put a bigger target on their and everyone else's backs." She clicked her tongue, "Sorry about ranting about first world problems here, but it freaking sucks being a journalist who can't report about something everyone in this city wants to know."
"Yeah, guess it is..." MJ caught Felicia step out from behind on of the shipping containers dressed in her costume, mask and all. The other singer gestured for her to come closer, "Hah...back to the grind." She sighed, "Hey...thanks for being here. The past few days have been absolute shit, it's...nice to talk to a friend." And not worry about being rejected for being a freak...
"Anytime, MJ." Norah winked and nudged her head, "Now come on, back to Superhero training, and remember I get first dibs on any interviews when you finally put on a costume."
"Ha, in your dreams, Winters."
The next part of her 'training' was an obstacle course- well, she said obstacle course, but really it was just jumping and climbing the stacked shipping containers like a demented monkey; which was harder than it looked, even with her new add-ons. It was at least easier than the 'sparring' session, mostly on account of the fact that all she had to do this time was follow Felicia rather than get her face beat in.
At least the view was nice. Much as she thought Felicia's costume was dumb as hell, Mary Jane couldn't deny that it definitely drew attention in all the right places.
Peter had his doubts that any of this was worth it, but she figured it couldn't hurt. Wasn't there a movie or something about how better control of the body led to better control of the mind? Hell, if nothing else it was a good distraction. If she was jumping through shipping containers and playing every teenage kung-fu hero cliche ever then she was too busy to think about just how she'd nearly murdered her dad...
'Focus.' She waited for Felicia to go ahead before she quickly followed. It didn't take long for her to realize that she'd miscalculated, which became painfully clear when she face-planted on the side of the wall and fell back-first onto the shipping container stacked below. It didn't hurt as much she thought it would've, but the sight of Felicia smirking down at her more-or-less cut through whatever pride she had left.
"MJ, you okay?" Norah called.
"I-I'm fine!" she shouted back quickly, rubbing her nose with a grimace as she did. Great, so both of them saw it. Small mercies that Peter went outside for a food run cause she didn't need everyone getting on her ass about it.
"Need some help there, Jane?" Mary Jane gave her the middle finger and forced herself up. Felicia laughed under her breath at the vulgar gesture and knelt at the edge of the container before offering her hand down, "Come on, no shame in it."
Mary Jane wanted to rebuke her, she really did, but the temptation to jump up was off-set by the risk of overshooting and clocking herself in the face again. Sighing, the redhead pulled back the sweat-soaked hair from her forehead and allowed Felicia to pull her up, the other singer straining slightly at her weight before she eventually pulled her up to the top container so they could sit side by side.
"...Thanks." She sat at the edge of the container and panted, swinging her legs lazily.
"Don't mention it. I suppose it's my fault for distracting you in the first place." Mary Jane scoffed at Felicia's cocky grin, though she didn't deny it. It wasn't like she was wrong per se... "...I hope you don't mind my saying, but this is rather bizarre, isn't it?"
"What, you mean me getting a mass murdering monster attached to me or the fact that despite all that I still can't avoid smacking my face on walls?"
"I was more referring to the fact that we're sitting next to each other without trying to kill one another, but again you have a point." Felicia leaned back and Mary Jane pointedly looked away. She really needed a better costume, "Oh, and of course that two people in the same band could have powers. The odds are unlikely, don't you think?"
"Yeah, I know what you-" Mary Jane froze and her eyes widened. Did she just... "Uh, wh-what do you mean?"
"You know, you and Stacy," she said the last word in a whisper, no doubt to avoid Norah overhearing.
"H-How did you-"
"Ben and May Parker have loose lips," she said coolly, "Honestly, though, I should have figured it out sooner. How else could Spider-Woman have arrived so soon when Murdock and I had our fight? I didn't think of it at the time, but it does make sense."
"Yeah, I guess..." Mary Jane wiped her hands on her shirt and looked down at the ground, "You're...taking this really well, and I'm not just talking about Spider-Woman."
"These past few months have been...bizarre." She laughed at that, though it sounded more annoyed and bitter than anything else, "I thought Murdock was just a blind lawyer, a human, but instead I find that he's supposedly possessed by a literal devil and that I never had any actual chance in killing him. Now I'm forced to rely on the aid of a group of psychopaths and would-be oracles and hope that Spider actually cares enough to stop him."
"Why are you after the Kingpin so bad? Did he piss in your cornflakes or something?"
"We all have our reasons, Jane." Mary Jane rolled her eyes at the vague answer. She expected nothing less, "Truth be told the only reason I'm helping with this is because I'm hoping that once you gain some sort of stability Spider and I can return to what we were doing before."
Mary Jane was about to say something before she heard the muted sounds of a motorcycle engine followed by Peter stepping inside carrying a bag full of greasy, low-budget takeout, "Just what the doctor ordered." She let herself fall to the floor and made her way to him, a small smile on her face. Seeing him always helped her calm down nowadays, and it wasn't just because he always made sure to carry suppressant with him just in case.
Five minutes and one injection later they were all sitting in a circle in a makeshift table made up of crates with a pile of take-out at the center. Mary Jane bit into the chicken leg greedily and just listened to the other three talking about whatever came to mind; she couldn't understand half of it, but the white noise was still relaxing. For a second she almost felt normal...well, as normal as she could be considering she was sitting with a resurrected vigilante, a thieving popstar and a journalist who seemed to cover up more news than she reported.
"That hasn't healed yet?" Norah asked suddenly, gesturing to the nasty gash on her right arm.
"Don't think it will..." Mary Jane frowned. That was where that monster seeped through that night, the place it called 'home'.
"Oh...well, I think it's cool. There's that saying about how scars are sexy, right?" Norah said quickly. Mary Jane snorted. The attempt at comfort was poor, but she appreciated it anyway.
"Forget about the scar, what about your 'training'?" Peter asked, looking between her and Felicia warily, "Did Felicia do anything?"
"Where's the trust, Spider? Jane's a big girl, she doesn't need you hovering over her," Felicia replied lightly.
"You've seen what that thing attached to her can do, Cat..." And more. Mary Jane gulped down her chicken nervously and took a deep breath. Neither her or Peter talked about what happened that night, what she nearly did to him...it still made her sick to think about it, "Teresa made things worse by forcing her to change so we need to pay attention to any signs that her control might be slipping."
"You've told us this before; repeating it won't change anything." Felicia rolled her eyes and set her noodles down, "Look, Jane's clumsy and inexperienced, but from what I've seen she hasn't done anything that indicates that she'll turn into that monster Kasady."
"Sorry if I'm being stupid here, but why can't we just go to S.H.I.E.L.D or Spider-Woman?" Norah asked, "Seems like they'd be the best option here, right?"
"Yeah, if you wanna put that thing back to the people that created it." Peter scoffed.
"Created...wait, are you saying S.H.I.E.L.D made that thing?"
"Yeah, though the cover story blames someone else." Peter sneered down at his plate of barely eaten food, "They saw those 'Silk' shitheels had a symbiote and they thought that it'd be a good idea for them to try and make their own. Guess they didn't count on it going loose on a killing spree..." And for Gwen to kill it. Mary Jane still found it hard to believe. Gwen was the most adamant person she knew about refusing to take a life, had been ever since Peter died...well, died and came back.
"Corruption, then? How surprising," Felicia said sarcastically.
"This is...huge." Norah set her food down and took a deep breath, "I mean, that's like government conspiracy level stuff. I wonder if Robbie and Urich will let me make a story on it."
"Not likely. The spooks have probably erased all trace of their fingers on the pot and if you try they'll just shut it down and come up with a counter story to discredit you, and that's the best case scenario. Worst case they just kill you and give some spiel that it's for the greater good that they don't get to pay for what they did like Osborn..."
"Wait, Osborn? The head of Oscorp?"
"Not him, his prodigal son." Peter sighed, "Look, no point in bringing it up, Summers; we can't change anything." He made a gesture and pointed to one of the smaller shipping containers, "Break's over, Mary. Time to test how strong you are."
The answer that question was 'apparently strong enough to lift at least 2.5 tons over her head', though she would've been lying if she said it was easy. Mary Jane grunted and scrunched her face from the effort of keeping the container balanced with both hands. Was this how Gwen felt when she lifted all those cars and rubble on TV? No, stupid question. Gwen made it look easy while she felt like she was lifting a dozen barbells stacked on top of one another.
Seeing the look of subdued surprise from Felicia and the wide eyed gape from Norah was worth it, though - it'd probably be the first and last time she'd ever make either of the two speechless. Peter's expression remained unreadable, though that didn't surprise her - hanging around Gwen all day probably made whatever she did less impressive.
She was about to set it down before Peter's head snapped to the entrance and he suddenly spoke up, "Someone's coming." He managed to put on his mask just before the door opened and-
Oh, fuck.
Mary Jane stood stock still, face frozen in shock, as Gayle stepped past Peter's ward and their eyes met. Gayle's look of surprise mirrored her own, "MJ...?" Her little sister's gaze shifted from her eyes to look up, and it was only after MJ finally remembered that she was still lifting the shipping container that she realized how bad this all must have looked.
"G-Gayle-"
"Lana, what the hell?" Peter interrupted with a hiss. He stomped towards the younger girl and said something else she couldn't make out, which she used as a chance to set the container down as gently as she could.
By which she meant dropping it like a ninny with enough force that everyone on the next few blocks heard the impact. Mary Jane cringed at the ringing headache she suddenly got, but apart from Gayle covering her mouth with both hands no one else seemed to care about the loud boom. Lana even continued to look up at Peter with an annoyed look on her face.
"What? I told you I was going to come!" she snapped back.
"You didn't mention a friend." Peter turned to Gayle and the younger girl shrunk back, her shoulders shaking. He always had that effect on people, from what she'd seen of him, "Get her out of here."
"Why? That's her sister, right?" Mary Jane was almost tempted to curl in on herself when Lana pointed at her, "She's been missing for about a week, apparently, but then I find out she's been crashing at your place doing fuck only knows what. They've been looking for her for days, Spidey!"
"You-"
"Stop it!" Gayle suddenly yelled, looking on the verge of tears, "I-I just wanna talk to my sister!"
"Kid, this isn't a good-"
"Spider, that's enough," Felicia said. Mary Jane could practically feel the glare from underneath the mask, but the part-time thief just looked back at him coolly, "You should know when to cut your losses. Jane's sister has already seen her; shutting her out will just create more trouble."
"I...gotta agree with Black Cat," Norah added, though her voice was more uncertain, "I don't think we can pull off the Women in White thing here."
Peter looked at Gayle for what felt like hours before he eventually sighed, "...Fine. We can stay here and-"
"A-Actually, Tiger, I'd rather speak to her alone." She raised both hands to stop his incoming rebuttal, "Look, you'll be right outside and I'll even cuff myself if you want, but I want- no, I need to talk to her myself. Please?"
Another frustrated breath came and went, "Fine, it's your funeral." Mary Jane cringed. Did he really have to say it like that? "We'll be close, so if you feel even slightly like that thing's trying to claw its way out then just scream. We don't want to take any chances."
The rest of them filed out, Peter and Lana arguing as they went, and eventually it was just her and Gayle alone. Mary Jane clenched her fists nervously and took a few tentative steps forward while her sister did the same. Neither of them stopped till they were right in front of each other, the pair separated by only a scant couple of feet. Mary Jane was tempted to reach out and touch her, but she held back. She needed to talk first.
"...Hey." Mary Jane said.
"Hey..." Gayle mumbled back.
She cringed; this was off to a great start... "I...alright, look I know this-"
"We were looking for you, MJ." The change from the almost teary-eyed look to anger made Mary Jane step back at the suddenness of it, "I...do you have any idea how worried we were? How me and mom-" she sucked in a deep, shaky breath, "-I...we thought you were just gone. Left the city, dead or...or something! You just attacked mom and left without any explanation!"
"Gayle-"
"A-And now you're spending time w-with freaking Supervillains!" Gayle continued, voice rising to a yell. Mary Jane chose not to correct her on the 'Supervillain' bit, "Do you have any idea how worried mom was?! She hasn't slept in days! We tried calling your phone, putting up posters, going to the police...God, I thought you were-"
"I was a danger to you!" she finally said, so loud that she was sure everyone outside heard it, "You saw what I did! I hurt mom, I nearly-" Nearly killed her dad. She kept coming back to that. Everyone else - those rapists in the alley and the assholes who tried to kidnap Gwen - she blamed that on the monster. Her dad was hers, "-Gayle...I'm losing my mind. I couldn't come back."
"Wait, what do you mean by that?"
"I mean I'm going fucking insane." Mary Jane brought both hands across her face and sucked in a deep breath.
"I-I don't get it. I mean, I saw you lifting that shipping container, so I-I'm guessing you have powers, but-"
"I'm not like Spider-Woman or She-Hulk, sis." Her lips curled up in a bitter smile, "I...okay, you remember The Incident? That, uh, killer who went on a rampage?" Stupid question; that was like asking if she remembered the Red Skull's 7-9 terror attack. Of course she'd remember.
"Y...Yeah?"
"Well, that thing...Captain America said in the interview that the guy - Cletus Kasady, I think - got his powers from somewhere else. Something she called a Symbiote. Well..."
"Wait, you're saying..." Mary Jane didn't have to nod. Gayle gasped and suddenly gripped her shoulders in a vice-grip, "That thing that made him into that monster...you have it now?"
"Yeah..." It felt like a condemnation, saying it out loud like she did, but it also felt...good, in a way, "I was passing through an alley and I got attacked. I cut my arm trying to run and..." She paused and showed off the gash, "It...seeped in through the wound. The people that attacked me...it wasn't pretty, what happened." Understatement of the fucking year right there. What next? That the monster was 'just a bit off-key'?
"I...I still don't understand why you can't come back. L-Look, you freaked out because of your, uh, powers, so let's just explain it to mom so we can-"
"It's not the powers!" she snapped, "I told you I was going nuts and I meant it. This...thing, it's alive, Gayle. I...I hear it's voice in my head, screaming at me to just...just kill people. We're trying to get a handle on it, but I-I don't think it's safe to come back. Not yet." Or ever, the cynical part of her mind said. Teresa's warning echoed back: the suppressants were losing effect. She had no idea if that was true, but the thought of it was worrying enough.
"God..." Gayle paced briefly and muttered under her breath, "Okay, so...what do we do?"
"We aren't doing anything. You're going to go home and wait. I'll...I'll call you again if- when I get a handle on this thing." Yeah, when would that be? Considering she was puking her lunch out a few days ago she wasn't feeling so confident.
"W-Well, I gotta tell mom and your friends-"
"No, you can't tell them!" It scared Mary Jane just how fierce her voice sounded just then, "I...okay, okay, you can tell mom. Just say that you found me and that I'm alright and I'll call her tonight. And tell her not to worry cause I'll be home soon and...that I'm sorry for hurting her."
"What about your friends?"
"They can't know. Just tell them police are on it and they can just wait, alright?" She knew she was just stalling, but she wasn't ready to face Gwen and the rest of them. Not yet, "Look, I'm sorry for worrying you, but until this thing's under control I can't go back, so I want you to promise me that you won't tell anyone what's actually happened."
"What? What the hell am I supposed to tell mom?"
"I dunno, think of something! You're a writer, aren't you? This should be easy!"
"Easier said than done, MJ!" Gayle countered. Mary Jane just found it a relief that she didn't look sad or pissed anymore, "Fuck, this is some heavy stuff...I mean, I've read comics and fanfics, but I didn't think this kind of stuff would happen to my freaking sister!"
"I didn't want it either, Gayle!" Just like Gwen didn't choose to get bitten by that spider or Peter didn't choose to come back from the dead with fucked up memories - and from those two only Peter had to deal with a murderous voice in his head like she did, so at least she wasn't alone, "Look, I'm...more-or-less alright, so don't worry."
"Yeah, don't worry after you told me you have a Jeckyll and Hyde thing going on." Gayle out an incredulous laugh, "Okay, I'll be back here tomorrow-"
"Absolutely not-"
"Absolutely yes!" she yelled over her objection, "Look, I don't think I'm gonna be much help, but...fuck, MJ, you're my sister! Do you really think I'm just going to sit on my butt at home while you're going through this?"
"I was hoping, yeah..."
"Tough." For the first time in days she saw her sister smile, and it was more of a relief than she thought it'd be, "I mean, I'm still worried that you turned to a Supervillain for help, but we can deal with that later."
"Hey, Tiger's alright. He helped protect the city, remember?"
"You can't take over the city if there is no city." Gayle shrugged. Mary Jane was pretty sure she just had a grudge about him dating her Superhero crush, "But I'll take your world for it."
Before she could offer a rebuttal her sister closed the gap and pulled her into a tight embrace. Mary Jane froze at the sudden gesture before she eventually reciprocated, her mouth raising in a smile. It wasn't perfect, but she'd take it.
MJ was missing.
Gwen swung through the air in large leaps, her face stuck in a scowl underneath her mask. She'd been so busy with everything else this past week that she'd dismissed MJ going MIA as just her taking some time off and maybe going to a party or two. It was only an hour ago that she finally ran into Mrs. Watson and realized just how bad it was: MJ ran off and hadn't made contact in over for a week. That was worrying, and that was coming from a prime ditcher like her.
So she put on her costume and swung around, cause she had no idea what else she could do. Was it likely she was going to find MJ just walking down the street? Probably not, but Glory and Betty had already put up posters and she had her dad call in a favor to his old police buddies to bump MJ up on the priority list so there wasn't much else she could do. They didn't need any more posters put up, they needed a clue.
She swung around for hours, but (as expected) she had no luck. Sighing, she swung into the alley next to the Dollar Dog and let the costume melt away, "Damn it..." She opened up her cellphone and texted Glory and Betty, immediately getting a 'no luck' and 'no dice' in response. She frowned and stuffed the phone back into her pocket. Where the hell was she? This wasn't like her.
Gwen trudged inside the dollar dog and pulled out a crumpled bill from her wallet. Right, quick snack break then she'd go back out there, maybe pay a visit to Norah after she met up with her friends and see if she knew anything. Hey, if anyone could help it'd be a journalist, right?
"Hey, Mr. Albie," she greeted the crusty cashier with a small grin. He was a grumpy boss in the short time she'd known him and he was a cheapskate besides, but she couldn't hate him. He had a point on just how often his shop got trashed and robbed.
"Ah...blonde girl, welcome." Gwen rolled her eyes. He always sucked at names; even her name tag had Glenn Spacey on it, "You want the usual?"
"Yeah, uh...just gimme everything except MJ's order."
"'Em Jay'? You mean the redhead girl?"
"Yeah, she's uh...she's missing." She licked her lips and looked down at her feet. Her dad and her friends would've told her that it was understandable she hadn't noticed, but that didn't stop the bubbling guilt in her stomach.
"Missing?" He typed the order into the register and snorted, "Saw her here two days ago, said she was not missing and your friends were just making a big deal out of nothing."
"Wait...what?!" She slammed her hands on the counter and resisted the urge to shake him like a madwoman, "Y-You saw her? Are you sure?"
"Yeah, young redhead, even corrected me when I got your name wrong," He jerked his thumb to one of the side tables, "She was kissing a midget in that booth over there after they got one of everything on the menu."
"A...midget?" Gwen blinked. MJ was dating carnies now? "Wait, run that by me again? Who's this midget?"
"I don't know his name. Brown hair and eyes, dark jacket...eh, nothing unique about him." He scratched his chin, "Oh, yeah, she called him Tiger, but that's it."
Gwen immediately felt like she'd punched in the gut. Tiger...no, it couldn't be. Peter would tell her if- he wouldn't lie to her like that, right? It wasn't like she'd been honest all the time with him, but he'd definitely bring it up if he'd been seeing MJ after she went 'missing'.
And he definitely wouldn't have been kissing her...right?
"C-Could you tell me anything more about this guy?"
"I thought you were looking for your friend, now you're asking about the dwarf?" He grunted, "Well, fine, but don't tell this to anyone else: guy was really...intense. Two punks tried to rob me and he beat them down. Threw coffee in one's eyes before knocking him out and then threatened another one with his own gun after he stabbed him through the right hand with a knife. Asking about something called Jack-o-Lantern."
"Jack-o-Lantern..." That sick fuck who killed all those people at Times Square...it was definitely Peter, then; he still held a grudge over it. But that meant... "A-Are you sure they kissed?" No, wait, that wasn't what was important here. Mr. Albie saw her, which meant MJ was still okay, at least a few days ago. Who cared if they were kissing?
...
God damn it, she did.
"Definitely. She was crying about something and then she kissed him." Mr. Albie replied, "Why, what's it matter to you? This what you had a fight about?"
"I...no, no that's not..." she trailed off and looked down. What the hell was going on? First MJ went missing and now apparently she's going on dates and telling people that she just had a fight with her friends? It didn't add up. And her kissing Peter... "Just...you know what, cancel my order. I suddenly lost my appetite."
She made her way to the entrance and stared blankly as Bodega Bandit strolled in with his head held high, Pine Cone oddly absent on his shoulder.
It at least meant she wouldn't have to feel guilty for doing what she did next.
He'd barely managed to declare 'The Bodega Bandit is back-' before she grabbed him by the front of the shirt and tossed him into the nearby dumpster, "Stay put." She slammed the lid shut and bent the metal so he couldn't get out. Maybe it was mean of her, but fuck it she wasn't in the mood to deal with his antics.
She should've been happy, right? MJ was (apparently) okay and from how Mr. Albie talked about her she must've looked normal enough not to draw attention. On the other hand apparently she'd been pretending that everything was okay and, oh yeah, kissing her (sorta) boyfriend!
Gwen waited to make sure she was alone before she let the suit cover her again and swung towards Peter's apartment. She needed answers. Now.
Done. Alright, first things first I apologize for the ending and how Gwen acts in it. A decent amount of readers will find her reaction understandable - especially given that her and Peter's relationship only recently stabilized and now he's apparently cheating on her - but others might might find it ridiculous that she cares so much when she has more important things to worry about like her mom's resurrection or MJ still being technically MIA.
All I can say is I hope that it's alright. And besides, I don't plan to create an entire arc of misunderstandings and rom-com shenanigans since it's not my style.
Questions:
1. Which chapter next: we can have that belated dinner date between Matt and Peter (and it would hold off on Gwen barging into Peter's apartment since he wouldn't be there) or we can continue with the Carnage plotline so we can finally get some payoff. Either that or I can finally make that Howard the Duck omake where Noir, Howard and a (tagging along cause she thought it was funny) Norah try to solve a case.
So either plot (pick which one) or another omake similar to the Frog-Man chapter.
2. Does anyone mind the tonal shift in Noir's segments? Originally it was pretty focused on street crime and human evil, and while the latter is still in focus (thanks, Jack) the former went way off the wayside ever since Teresa showed up and gave that swerve about Murdock being literally possessed by TEH DEVIL! rather than just being a normal human asshole. Now it feels like a poor man's Ghost Rider and I'm not sure if it's still okay.
3. Another bite the bullet question. So I've been getting comments that people want cameos or appearances from other dimensional characters like Mayday Parker, 616, Miles Kaine etc etc. Alright, I'll bite: I can't put these characters in the fic as more dimensionally displaced heroes - it's bloated enough as it is and they'd have no role - but would you guys like an arc where Noir and/or Gwen go to the other dimensions temporarily?
I can even make it part of the fic depending on how I structure later story events. So yeah, if you do want it then mention which world. Spider-Girl's world of Earth-982? The Ultimate Universe of Earth-1610? The Amazing 8 universe where Gwen and Miles got married and created a utopia? Web Warriors? And yes, despite my hesitance, even Earth-616 (though if you just want Spider-Gwen and 616 interactions then I recommend you read Tangled Webs).
- Location
- Australia
1. Carnage plot line. Don't want it to drag on by going with the Matt plot.
2. I actually like the tonal shift.
3. I'd rather nothing happened, but if you have to, make the protagonists travel. Anywhere is fine. And try not randomly insert it in, I'd rather go with the main plot line.
2. I actually like the tonal shift.
3. I'd rather nothing happened, but if you have to, make the protagonists travel. Anywhere is fine. And try not randomly insert it in, I'd rather go with the main plot line.
Madou Sutegobana
Autocorrupt has been disabled.
- Location
- Twin Realms Mandala
Carnage should probably be treated more like a worm than a normal disease. What I mean by that is that supressant probably should be held off* until the moments he is about to take over rather than applied regularily so that Carnage doesn't develop an immunity as quickly and MJ doesn't have a super worm immune to all suppressants taking over her body before the scientists can develop a batch of suppressant they haven't already produced.
*Held off unless they have an actual poison that will kill him, that cure should be applied on a strict regular dosage so as to ensure it completely eliminates Carnage. Suppressant, doesn't however sound like a cure so it should be applied differently.
3. I like the idea of travel, it could even be a natural result of tracking Oktavius and encountering one of his traps -- Just to spark ideas and not trying to tell you what to write! Narratively speaking, it would be more dramatic for both Peters to be left behind while Gwen gets sent off alone or with the dimensionally displaced Cindy(also just an idea, you can ignore), maybe even visiting Cindy's world at some point.
Last edited:
Loktarogar
The Apex of Cuddling
- Location
- Brazil
Superhero Training! A classic!
1- Carnage plotline, because it is becoming incredibly exciting.
2- True, it has changed, but the change was organic IMO, so I don't mind, but I do miss seeing Peter going out to beat lowlifes and seeing the bad guys pissing their pants when they see him and the Noir feeling that was on the beginning of the fic.
3- Travelling between dimensions sounds fun! I would love to see your take on them, but I love the Idea of Matou above me.
1- Carnage plotline, because it is becoming incredibly exciting.
2- True, it has changed, but the change was organic IMO, so I don't mind, but I do miss seeing Peter going out to beat lowlifes and seeing the bad guys pissing their pants when they see him and the Noir feeling that was on the beginning of the fic.
3- Travelling between dimensions sounds fun! I would love to see your take on them, but I love the Idea of Matou above me.
The Carnage chapter's gotten all the votes...again. I'm getting kinda paranoid that no one wants to read about Matt and Peter's exciting love story
As for the tone shifting, I'm glad most people don't seem to mind it, though the later Hand arc just goes full bore into the mystical BS with chi, exorcisms, demons, resurrections and the soul.Nice to hear from you again
Anyway, as for Carnage: they did initially do that - MJ was even trusted to self-medicate the second she thought her thoughts were slipping - but after Teresa's 'help', the fight at the graveyard and her nearly raping Peter they've gotten kind of paranoid and they're burning through their limited supply of suppressants trying to keep her under control. That and they're not sure if Carnage can really gain resistance. Teresa told them it did, but they don't really trust her not to say shit just to make herself look more justified. As for the dimension travel, someone else suggested including MJ and/or Cindy in addition to Peter and Gwen. Leaving behind Noir, though, seems like it'd be a poor choice since he'd definitely show more of a reaction and development to all that insanity over Gwen who's read about alternate dimensions since she was a kid.
Chapter 97 - Spiders and Symbiotes
No one voted for the Matt Murdock dinner Guess that romance will have to wait. Also, the dimension hopping question got a lot more attention than I thought it would. Now I'm actually wondering if it'd be better to do the opposite and have other heroes drop in on Earth-65 temporarily for a filler arc. Guess we'll see.
Anyway, Noir's been lacking in POV's lately, hasn't he? He doesn't have any in this chapter and might not even for the next :/ Really gotta fix this soon, cause he's starting to feel like a side-character who's there to just support the others. On the other hand his POV's would jump straight to the Jack arc, so it's a catch-22...
I also watched through the Punisher and I have to say I like the chemistry between Karen Page and Frank Castle. Many consider it romantic, others don't, but I can't deny that the chemistry and the acting to convey it are definitely top notch. If possible I would've wanted that for Gwen and Peter, but with their relationship now it'd probably be better if Peter had this kind of interplay with Cindy, Mary Jane or Bullseye.
Side note - New job next week and I've recently gotten into the new Deus Ex, so update rate might change.
Chapter 97: Spiders and Symbiotes
Peter wasn't there; Gwen wasn't even surprised. She called and waited till the clock was close to striking midnight, but neither he or (presumably) MJ showed up again and she ended that night torn between being worried and pissed off. Normally she didn't like losing contact with her friends for an extended period of time, but she knew Peter well enough to know that he could go days without every picking up his phone.
The last part of the 30's that refused to let go. She hoped that was the only part that did...
She swung all the way back to Queens (she spent so much time there Betty was already making jokes about finding another roommate) and by the time she finally got home she was pretty sure she'd left about two dozen calls to both Peter and MJ, "God damn it..." She opened the door and was greeted with absolute darkness. That meant her mom and dad were asleep, which was a mixed blessing considering all the crap they still had to deal with.
Gwen trudged back to her room and let the costume fade away as she slumped on the bed, leaving her in nothing but her underwear. She felt exhausted, and it wasn't just because she knew she had to get up bright and early tomorrow for another charity show. Everything was getting too much - being an Avenger, knowing S.H.I.E.L.D was responsible for the that other symbiote (and having to keep it a secret...), Peter's identity, Webster's death, her mom coming back, MJ going missing(?), Peter and MJ (supposedly...hopefully not) kissing...
It made her wish that everything would stop for just one fucking day so she could catch her breath, cause right now she just wanted to scream.
A dreamless sleep came and went and by the time she woke up half an hour past six in the morning she felt just as tired as she had the night prior, "Ugh..." Gwen forced herself off the bed and forced her way to the bathroom. She washed up on the sink and glared at her reflection in the mirror. Supermodel and heiress by day and Superhero by night? Hah, yeah...she couldn't even get into a relationship that wasn't fucked in the head.
She let the costume shift into a long sleeved shirt and a pair of shorts - she'd finally gotten better at shifting it around, even if the damn colors on her costume refused to budge - and walked quietly to her mom and dad's room. Opening the door by just a tiny crack, Gwen smiled slightly when she caught sight of the two of them sleeping on the bed. It was bittersweet, knowing what she did, but the sight of her mom being, well, alive, was one of the best things she could've gotten after the clusterfuck the past few things were.
The other best things were getting together with Peter and her dad proposing, but right now she didn't want to think of either of those...
She rubbed the dull white and pink band on her left ring finger as she went down the stairs. It was just a cheap ring; she'd seen them for sale on some of the kiosks she passed by, and it was definitely tacky to wear her own merch for funsies, but she couldn't help but be attached to it. Peter got it for her, who cared if it was cheap or dumb looking? It was the thought that mattered and all that cliche bullshit...and she couldn't deny that the thought of him on one knee wasn't appealing in some way.
Shit, she sounded like one of those sappy rom-com characters...
Shaking her head, Gwen put on a pair of black sandals and ran out of the house. The charity event wouldn't start for another couple of hours, which gave her some time to kill. A part of her was tempted to go out and search for MJ (and Peter), but she knew it was pointless. If she couldn't find them yesterday then she couldn't find them now.
Well, at least she knew MJ was safe. If she was with her Peter then it was pretty damn unlikely she was staying out in the street, which was a load off her shoulders.
Patrol was actually pretty uneventful apart from running into the Protectors again, which wasn't as stressful as last time since 'Tarot' still kept to her promise of staying home and the guy who called himself Cypher was a no-show. Granted that meant she had to babys- er, team up with just Frog-Man, Slyde (seriously, how was he not in jail?) and that Ice Cream dude, but at least it took her mind off everything else for a bit.
By the time it was nearing nine she'd said her goodbyes (and dodged their offers to exchange numbers) and made her way to the convention center. In all honesty she wanted to skip. Any other day she would've been ecstatic to get charity money for just a few flips and waves, but with everything else happening she really wished that she could for once just leave it to Kate; which she totally would have if Kate wasn't busy with her own family thing. Couple that with a promise to Shulkie and Gwen and Cindy (the only other person she could rope into doing this) were left to carry a show all on their own.
In their defense it wasn't terrible, but without MJ as the MC or She-Hulk to be the big attraction it definitely wasn't the fist-pumping 'mericuh, ^&*$ yeah!' moment the last one was. Neither of them were really built to be front and center like this - there was a reason Gwen preferred to be in the back with her drums while MJ soaked the attention - and Cindy definitely wasn't one for showboating after 10 years of being alone in a bunker.
That and being the center of attention just reminded her of how shallow she was 5 years ago...
The two Spiders breathed a sigh of relief when they arrived at their temporary room, "Thank fuck that's over..." Cindy collapsed on the couch back first, legs spread out across the cushions in a way that said 'fuck off, it's all mine'.
Gwen rolled her eyes and plopped down on one of the chairs, resisting the urge to sit on the wall as she always did. She was sure there were no cameras or recorders around - their spider-senses would've warned them otherwise - but there was something about getting guest rooms as Spider-Woman that still felt off to her. Like any second now the walls were gonna come down and everyone was gonna call her a menace again.
"That was a trip," Gwen said.
"Yeah, putting on a show up there...makes me think I'm like one of those Phantom Thieves of Hearts guys in Japan. Flashy isn't my style, you know?"
A couple of minutes of comfortable silence passed before Gwen finally spoke up again, "Hey, thanks..." Cindy cracked an eye open and gave her a half-lidded glance, "For coming with, I mean. I promised Shulkie I'd do this, but I'm not sure I could've done it alone."
"You kidding me?" She snorted and propped herself up higher on the cushions, "You're Spider-Woman. You could've gone on stage and burped the alphabet and everyone here would eat it up."
"Yeah...I think you're overestimating me." What was with people telling her she was the second coming of Captain America? First it was Peter and Tony Stark and now Cindy was getting in on it, too.
"If you say so. All I'm saying is I can't go a single block without seeing a store selling your hoodies or one of your ads. You remind me of the Fantastic 4 back home: everyone loved em and wanted to know everything about them...it was actually pretty fucking creepy." She looked Gwen in the eyes, "Just a tip: don't let anyone find out who you are. Ever. Second you do you can kiss privacy goodbye."
"Wasn't planning on an unmasking, Spinerette." She doubted anyone else could even take off her mask at all without her say so. Something told her the suit didn't like anyone else grabbing it, Webster or no, "'Sides, the worst people already know who I am..." Cindy's evil twin and Murderdock...she would've been lying if she said she hadn't stayed awake at night worrying that she was putting everyone in danger. Truth be told she had no idea why they hadn't done more with that knowledge.
Best she could figure they didn't want to draw attention to themselves. If everyone knew then they couldn't really use it, could they?
"I know what you mean..." The older Spider sat up with a huff and brought both hands through her hair, "I'm still waiting for the other shoe to drop, you know? Like any second now my evil twin's gonna bust in her and drag me back to my cell."
"Well if she tries it she'll have to deal with the rest of the Avengers." And Peter. The two were way friendlier than one would think looking at them, though she shouldn't have been surprised; the same could be about him and most of his friends, herself included, "...You talked to Spider-Man recently?"
"Not since we visited my family, no." She shook her head. Gwen just wondered when they found the time to do that, "Why, is something wrong? I said he could call me if he ran into problems with that devil lawyer."
"The fact that we're even talking about a possessed kingpin like it's normal says a lot, doesn't it?" Then again her mom and best friend got resurrected, so who the fuck was she to say it was too stupid to believe? S.H.I.E.L.D probably knew all about it, though; they still had a lookout for Uncle Ben and Aunt May last she checked, "...Hey, can I ask you something else?"
"Can't promise I'll answer, but shoot."
"Well..." Gwen licked her lips nervously and deliberated her next words, "You're partnered with you know who now, right?"
"Partnered's not the word I'd use, but sure, I guess." Cindy shrugged, "Why?"
"How is he? I mean I message him sometimes but he seems...weird." She learned to read into both his and Peter's messages long ago, and right now the clipped responses screamed at her that something was definitely up, "I...the past few days have been pretty fucked up, and I'd really appreciate it if at least one of my friends didn't turn out to be missing or fucked up without me knowing..."
"I think you're a little too late on Gobby not being fucked up, Spidey." Gwen winced at the blunt words. She'd forgiven Harry for trying to kill her (wow, that still sounded weird...), but she understood that not everyone else was so easy to let bygones be bygones. Especially not the people whose lives he ruined... "Look, he's alright. He gets kinda mopey sometimes, but I think that's just him being emo about his dad. It comes and goes."
"Yeah, I guess so..." He always had issues with Norman Osborn, though for the life of her she couldn't figure out why. Hating him for being distant was one thing, but this was another breed altogether, "This is a weird question, but...do you trust him?"
Cindy looked at her silently for a few seconds before she replied, "Nope." Again, Gwen had to wince. She was expecting it, but the lack of hesitation was still enough to make her fumble, "I get that he's your friend and all, but my evil twin couldn't have gotten the serum if he didn't give it to them. I've seen the piles of dead bodies, Spider-Woman...and if I was rescued just a few days later I would've been one of them. So I'm not in a really trusting mood considering he got off because daddy paid his bail."
"Yeah..."
"Look, I trust him not to stab me in the back and that's it. I wouldn't exactly invite him over to family visits, but I can at least be sure he'll help out in a fight and that he won't go black widow on me after we sleep together. He might be fucked up, but I like to think he's not so stupid that he'd screw over one of the few people willing to help him with his little vigilante crusade."
Well, Gwen couldn't say she was surprised. The amount of people that liked Harry could probably be counted on one hand, and that included her and (probably) not his own dad- wait a minute.
...
"...Did you just say you slept together?" Gwen blurted out, causing the other Spider to look at her with a raised eyebrow, "I mean, I didn't mishear that, right? Or did you mean you were so tired that you slept in the same bed without realizing-"
"We fucked, Spider-Woman." Gwen's mouth opened and closed, but no sound came. That...wasn't what she expected to hear, "I mean, it's not a big deal-"
"Not a big deal?! You just said you didn't trust him!"
"Yeah, and I just told told you that I at least know he's not gonna stab me in the back, even if it is selfish!" she shot back, "Look, you've been to bars before, right? You've never gone back with a guy for a one night stand?"
"I mean, yeah, but-"
"And would you trust any of those guys with your secret identity and all this crazy shit?"
"Well, not really-"
"Same thing, then," Cindy said, ignoring Gwen's fish-eyed gape, "Look, it's nothing, alright? We did it a couple of times and we both agreed it didn't change anything...and, to be blunt, I've been trapped in a bunker since I was eighteen. You can't exactly blame me for not being picky, especially since Bobby takes S.H.I.E.L.D's fraternization rules really seriously and the cop I tried to ask out was apparently happily married with a son on the way."
"Jesus Christ..." Gwen pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed. She knew the other Spider was older and more cynical than she appeared, but the blasé way she talked about sleeping with someone she didn't trust or even apparently like all that much was still surprising. No wonder she and Peter got along so well, "Just...make sure not to hurt him, alright? He can be...fragile sometimes."
Translation: he could overreact about things that weren't his fault.
"You worry too much, Spidey." Cindy snorted, "Look, it'll be fine. I mean you and 'Dark Spider' seem to make it work somehow."
Gwen was about to respond before a knock on their room door interrupted her. Without missing a beat Cindy jumped off the couch and opened the door before Gwen could ask her to wait up.
The man on the other side was vaguely familiar. His hair was a curly blonde and the his jawline was covered in a scruffy and thick stubble; definitely good looking from what she saw. The neatly trimmed suit said businessman, but the worn yellow shoes cut through that image quickly. It was like he tried to dress up but forgot about the last bit.
"Good morning." He bowed slightly and stepped back from Cindy, "Uh, this might seem weird, but could I talk to Spider-Woman for a bit? We need to discuss a mutual friend."
"A mutual friend? Do tell." Maybe it was just dealing with that Roxxon guy, but Gwen definitely didn't feel good about speaking alone with business types on her own.
"She introduced herself as Teresa?"
Gwen sucked in a sudden breath, and Cindy wasn't far behind given the way her grip on the doorway tightened. As if sensing their distress the blonde man held up both hands in a calming gesture, "I understand that she can be...difficult, so I went in her stead. I was hoping we could talk."
"What the fuck does she want?" Gwen snapped. She didn't like Teresa, and from what she gathered from Peter apparently that wasn't a rare reaction.
"It concerns your friend, someone named Mary Jane Watson?"
That was enough for her to let him in. Both Gwen and Cindy sat on the couch while the guy, who introduced himself as Daniel Rand - "Call me Danny" - sat on the chair across from them. Looking closer it was easy to tell that he was just as uncertain about it as they were, which was a little relieving. After Teresa's browbeating she didn't want to deal with another guy who had his head up his ass.
"How do you know this Teresa person?" Cindy asked, arms crossed and eyes narrowed.
"Better question is how you know Teresa, Spinerette. Last I checked you weren't into this mystical bullshit," Gwen said.
"She texted me out of the blue, said I was 'a spider taken into another weave'. I thought she was just high."
"She wasn't high, and it's not 'mystical bullshit'," Danny said, sounding distinctly offended, "This might seem hard to believe, but magic is just as real as the radioactive spiders that gave you your gifts."
"How do you know about that?" Gwen's eyes narrowed. They hadn't told anyone outside of their friends and family about how they got their powers.
"Like I said, we have a mutual friend and the both of us are fighting a mutual enemy in the Hand." Gwen pursed her lips. Murderdock's ninjas...it was a stupid fucking name, especially since the ninjas fought more like drunk banzai chargers.
"Okay, so what's this got to do with Car- Mary Jane?" Cindy asked.
"Teresa was involved in something regarding Spider-Woman's friend. She didn't tell me what it was exactly, but whatever she did Spider-Man cut off contact with her." He leaned forward and pressed his hands together, expression grave, "I get why he might be angry with her, but if he keeps going like this then both him and Miss. Watson are going to be in danger. They can't fight the Hand without help."
"I offered to help and she told me to piss off." Gwen scoffed.
"She has her reasons, even if it can get...frustrating sometimes." His smile was strained, "I'm not going to defend or condemn her, I'm just here to deliver a message: if you want to see your friend again then go to her apartment. She'll arrive at about 1:30 tomorrow afternoon and you can question her on her disappearance."
"Another vision? Just fucking perfect..." Gwen clicked her tongue. She wanted to tell him to piss off, but 1. he didn't deserve that for giving a message and 2. she was so desperate to find MJ again that she was willing to take it, "Alright, fine...thanks."
"You're welcome. For what it's worth I do hope you find your friend." His next smile as more sincere and oddly calming.
"Thanks...hey, I'm curious. If you're Daniel Rand, CEO and lost heir of Rand Industries, how exactly did you get a 'mutual friend' in Teresa? She doesn't seem like the businessman type."
"Neither am I, really. I'm the Immortal Iron Fist, protector of Kun Lun, living weapon and sworn enemy of the Hand. I was raised by monks after the plane crash to channel the chi in my body as both protector and warrior."
A pregnant silence settled over the group before Cindy quickly broke it, "Okay, that's it, I'm done." She held up her hands and stood, head shaking, "I still have to deal with a bunch of shit like the Toxic Mega Assholes and the Arsenic Candy gang and I really don't need to deal with a modern day Tarzan. My BS meter's filled up for the day."
"Is it really so hard to believe?" Danny asked, "You both got powers from something that 'logically' shouldn't have happened, and if I'm understanding Teresa right apparently you aren't even from this world. Why is the thought of chi and martial arts so alien to people? I could even prove it to you if you wanted."
"I'm not saying I don't believe you, Bruce Lee, but this stuff is just over my head." Cindy huffed, "Look, if Spider-Man or anyone else needs help then I'm there, but I'm not gonna get this stuff even if you scream it at me. I can barely understand Ezekiel's bullcrap about the Bride and the web of life - all I know is it's the reason I lost 10 years of my life, so this mystical bullshit can piss off."
"Yeah, I kinda have to go with Spinerette here. I actually do believe you, because God knows I've seen enough that I can't say it's not real, but could we hold off on it, at least until I see my friend again?"
"If that's what you want." He tried to hide it, but he was definitely bummed out; like someone who didn't get the applause after show and tell, "I'll tell Teresa that you'll be meeting your friend again. Hopefully this fight will end soon."
Yeah...hopefully.
"You need a costume."
"Nope." Mary Jane didn't even look up from her stretching to meet her sister's no-doubt smiling face. Felicia suggested that she test how far she could stretch and maneuver herself, even giving her a yoga instruction book. According to her it was 'good for a lot of things, and not just for relaxing'; and Mary Jane definitely didn't miss the coy and teasing smile on her face when she'd said it.
Was it good, bad or just fucking weird that Felicia had no problems flirting with someone attached to a murderous monster?"
"Oh come on, why not?" Gayle whined. Mary Jane finally turned up and responded to her pout with a completely flat look, "You have powers now, are you seriously just gonna run around with a t-shirt and jeans?"
"Tiger makes it work." She shrugged and laid her hands flat on the makeshift mat as she shifted into another position, "Also, are you forgetting that it was literally just two days ago we were talking about how much I didn't want this monster in me and that it's been a fucking nightmare?"
"Yeah, but you seem to be handling it just fine."
"That's only cause you're here for a couple of hours and don't see me when I'm throwing up and crying for it to stop." Both of them winced at the poor attempt a joke. Mary Jane shifted to another position to distract herself and let out a tired breath, "...Look, what made you bring it up?"
"I dunno, I just figured you could do some good, is all..." Gayle looked down and played with the straps of her Spider-Woman (really?) backpack, "I mean I didn't say anything before, but when I first saw you carrying that thing I thought you might've been Spider-Woman."
"That would mean you would've been making fanfics about the two of us screwing, and this entire thing's fucked up enough without adding that into the mix." Mary Jane raised herself to a proper stand again and rubbed at her neck.
She declined to comment on the fact that Gayle was technically making fanfics about screwing Gwen, which wasn't much better on the weirdness scale.
"Ugh, you didn't have to say that." Gayle made an exaggerated noise of disgust, "All I'm saying is you got superpowers now. Don't tell me you're not at least tempted to try and do something with it? To help people?"
She already did. Without her Gwen would've been taken by that robo-bitch for God only knew what, "Look, even if I wanted to I can barely control this thing. The only reason I'm not running around with tentacles outta my ass is cause Tiger's making sure that this thing doesn't wake up." Apparently he called in a favor to that Bullseye guy who called in a favor to someone else so they could get her at least one dose of suppressant a day. They were still rationing, but it was definitely a relief.
"Yeah, I guess..."
Gayle played with the straps of her backpack again and Mary Jane sighed. She could already tell where this was going, "...You have a costume in your backpack, don't you?"
"Er...kinda?" The half-cocked grin Gayle gave her cause Mary Jane to facepalm, "Hey, I mean, it's not mine!" She unzipped the bag in a hurry and pulled out red onesie and a blue sleeveless hoodie that Mary Jane instantly recognized as her old halloween costume, "You were the one who made it, remember? The Scarlet Spider!"
"Yeah, for Halloween! Betty also dressed up as that Ghost Rider guy, if you remember!" Mary Jane crossed her arms, "Look, do you really expect me to dress up in a onesie and run around beating up muggers and pimps?" Why did she make it sound so absurd? Gwen was doing it and there was a hero craze going on. It might've been weirder for her not to consider doing it.
"Well it's better than doing it in a t-shirt and yoga pants!" Gayle shot back, gesturing to her dirty and sweat-stained outfit. Her choice of clothes were definitely on the poorer side right now, "Look, it's easy, just put it on under your clothes and keep the mask, gloves and shoes off till you gotta fight crime! All the superheroes do it!"
"Yeah, in comics! And I'm not even fighting crime!"
They argued for the next ten minutes before Mary Jane eventually caved and agreed to put it on. She grabbed the clothes and gave Peter a sideways glance. He sat at the corner nearby and nursed a Styrofoam cup of coffee without so much as a single word, which was more than a little creepy, if she was being honest, but with Felicia and Norah being busy with their own thing today she couldn't say she minded his silent looks. Actions spoke louder than words and he definitely had a good track record with her.
She changed inside one of the cargo containers and when she'd stepped out in full costume she was immediately met with an excited squee and a wave of claps from her sister, "You look so cool!" Gayle said, which caused Mary Jane to roll her eyes. She didn't say that when she put the costume on last year, "Ohh, now all you need are webs and your own Spider signal and you can be just like Spider-Woman!"
"A signal would tell everyone where you are," Peter mumbled, which got him an annoyed glance from her sister. For someone she considered a Supervillain Gayle seemed to have no problems completely ignoring him when it came down to it, "And last I checked Mary couldn't stick to walls, which makes the webs less practical compared to when Spider-Woman uses it."
"No one asked you." Gayle rolled her eyes.
"Mary didn't ask you about being a hero either, but you're still wasting her time with dress up. Here's a free tip, kid: heroes aren't about fame and fans and people die when they go up against psychopaths with guns."
"Christ, you're such a downer! I don't get how you're friends with Spider-Woman and Spinerette."
"Guess that's something else you'll be wondering about." He lowered the cup of coffee and gestured Mary Jane, "Come on, Mary, we gotta go back to your place and your sister has to get back to school. And do me a favor, Watson: try not to draw any more attention to Lana, would you? Things are already bad enough with her dad, she doesn't need you pointing out she's apparently 'besties' with Spider-Man."
"Alright, alright, geez..." She was being snappy about it, but Mary Jane could tell the two were getting along. Gayle usually clammed up to strangers unless they earned her trust and Peter...well, he was always a bit of a sourpuss. Definitely one thing that hadn't changed from him coming back from the dead, "...And hey, don't blame her for taking me here, alright? She didn't know it was supposed to be a secret."
"Yeah, yeah..."
Soon enough Gayle said her goodbyes and the two of them (after she'd put some proper clothes on over the onesie) were on the way back to her apartment on Peter's motorcycle. Mary Jane tightened her grip on Peter's mid-section and closed her eyes, letting the rush of wind cool her through her helmet. It probably had nothing compared to the web-swinging Gwen and Spinerette did, but she wasn't complaining. It relaxed her, and for now that was enough.
Before she knew it they'd parked on the street across her apartment. Mary Jane swallowed nervously and looked up at the (not at all) imposing structure. It'd only been a little over a week, but it felt so odd being back here. It shouldn't have been - it was her home for the past couple of years - but right now all she could think about was that stupid fight she had with Glory.
"...You okay?" Peter asked her softly.
"Yeah...mostly." She took a deep breath and stepped off the bike. She didn't want to come back here, not yet, but she needed to get some of her things. Gayle helped her out by bringing her clothes, but most of her things were still up there. She knew for a fact that Glory had a family thing today, so this would be one of the few times she was sure she'd be alone. She just had to take some of her stuff and go.
"We can leave if you want."
"Too late now. If I don't come back in twenty minutes then you'll probably need to swing in." She'd meant it as a joke, but it sounded more like a plea. Shaking her head, she trudged up the stairs towards her room and kept her head down. She doubted anyone in the building would recognize her, but it was better safe than sorry. According to her sister she was still missing, and she wanted to keep it that way for a few more days.
She turned the key on the locked door and pushed it open slowly. The inside was abandoned, which caused her to breath a sigh of relief, "Alright..." Her phone said it was 1:20, meaning she had at least a couple of hours before Glory got back.
The place was neater than she remembered...
It was hard to admit, but her old bed was definitely a sight for sore eyes, "God..." She collapsed face-first on top of it and took a deep breath, mouth quirking up in a smile. It was just like how she remembered it.
She should've been getting her stuff, but she couldn't help but let her eyes flutter close. The past few days were fucking exhausting, and being here again...it made it easy to pretend that things were normal again, that she could just apologize to Glory (or Glory could apologize to her...) and everything would be fine and dandy again and they could go back to getting gigs to pay their rent.
The fatigue caught up with her so much that she didn't hear the door opening and the footsteps that came afterwards till it was too late.
Mary Jane got up on the bed with a gasp, "Fuck!" That wasn't Peter; there were too many footsteps. Muttering another curse to herself, she made her way to the window and looked outside, "God damn it..." The fall was steep. She'd fallen from longer before, but that was when that monster was under control. Could she make it on her own? Did she want to risk it?
She never got the chance to decide before the door opened.
"MJ!"
...Shit.
Mary Jane turned around and cringed when she saw Glory, Betty and Gwen standing on the doorway; and, more importantly, blocking her only other escape route. She was tempted to jump for it now, but with Gwen there she didn't like her chances of being able to run.
She had to be cool about this, "Uh...hey, you guys, wh-what's up?"
Okay...that was terrible, and judging by the fuming look on Glory's face the others definitely noticed it, too.
"'What's up'?!" Glory stepped closer and poked her in the chest hard, further blocking her chances of escape, "MJ, you've been missing for over a week! We've been running all over town putting up wanted posters everywhere! Do you have any idea how worried we were?! You didn't pick up your phone and your mom and Gayle had no idea where you went! They thought you might've died!"
"I'm fine..." She already heard this lecture from Gayle, she didn't need it from Glory, "I...I just needed some time alone."
"Time alone? That's what you call this?" Glory asked incredulously, "Where the fuck were you, MJ?"
"Just...around." Why did she feel like a 5 year old with her hand in the cookie jar? Glory wasn't her damn mom or anything, "Look, I left for a few days and now I'm back, could we just let it go?"
"Let it go? Dude, you were like totally MIA," Betty 'helpfully' supplied, "I mean, what the fuck happened? You join a cult or something?"
"What- no, no! Jesus, I was just-"
"Hanging out with Peter?"
The accusation in Gwen's voice was clear as day. Mary Jane turned and cringed when she caught the blonde's expectant look. Seeing her again should've been a relief, but all she felt right now was a lingering sense of dread. The last person who was attached to this monster got killed, "Um...what?" Mary Jane said softly.
"I was asking if you were hanging out with Peter." Gwen pursed her lips, "Cause according to Mr. Albie you two were out at the Dollar Dog a few nights ago."
"That's..." Mary Jane stopped. What could she say? She'd asked Peter and the others to keep it a secret so there was no way she could play innocent here, "We were just..."
"...He said you two were kissing, MJ. Is that true?" Gwen asked, voice lowered into a whisper.
It came to her all at once: going 'missing' for days only to get caught kissing someone's boyfriend at some fast food joint. For all the world it must have looked like Peter was cheating on Gwen with her, 'Oh, shit...' Mary Jane covered her face with both hands and groaned. This wasn't how she wanted this to go. At all, "Look, Gwen, it-it's not what you think, okay? Tiger and I...it wasn't-"
"Then what was it?" she snapped, Glory and Betty just looking between them in utter silence, "Cause honestly, MJ, I'm drawing up fucking blanks here and I don't know what the hell else could be going on."
It was just then that the cherry on this shit sundae arrived. Before Mary Jane could fumble a reply the front door opened and Peter stepped inside, "Mary, we have to-" He stopped when he caught sight of the four of them all bunched up together, "...Damn it."
"Oh, great, man of the hour himself." Glory rolled her eyes, "Maybe you can explain."
"There's nothing to explain!" Mary Jane cut in, "Look, what Mr. Albie saw? Not what it was, not even close! I've just...I've been dealing with some stuff and Peter helped me out, okay? Nothing's happening or going on."
"Then explain it to us, MJ." Glory said, "Look, I'm sorry for arguing with you, I'll admit I was being an ass and you were right, but would you just quit it with the mystery girl act and tell us what the hell's going on? Cause right now you're still filed as missing by the police!"
"I...I can't..." She shut her eyes desperately and clenched her hands into tight fists. Now she knew how Gwen felt all those years, keeping it all a secret from them, "Trust me, if it was just cheating it'd be so easy..."
She tried to step past Gwen to put some distance, but the blonde's hand shot out and grabbed her right wrist. Mary Jane just barely heard her say something about explanations and slowing down, but she didn't care for it. The entirety of her right arm pulsated and Peter screamed out a warning just before she lashed out.
"Let go of me!" She shoved Gwen off with enough force to make her fly through the air and hit the wall- or at least she would have if she hadn't flipped mid-air and attached herself to it by her fingertips and feet. The redhead let out a frustrated growl and glared up at her surprised face, tendrils of red running up her neck to her jaw and causing all three of them to gasp.
MJ's rising bout of anger was quickly numbed when a a cold syringe pressed through the right side of her neck. She turned around and lashed out towards the source only for Peter to grab her wrist mid-swing and pull it down, "Calm down, Mary..." He pulled the syringe back and cupped the her left cheek gently. She instinctively found herself leaning into his touch.
Peter turned to the other three in the room and frowned, "...We can explain."
This was a nightmare.
Gwen sat at a chair and covered her face with both hands as MJ and Peter explained everything. How she'd gotten attacked in that alley, how that monster seeped into her wounds and then...
She shook her head. This was all too much; she almost wished the two of them really were having an illicit love affair. It would hurt, but at least MJ would've been safe and not...bonded to that thing.
"Holy shit..." Glory said after the two of them finally finished, "So that thing that was on that Cletus Kasady guy...it's alive and it's on you?"
"That's what I said, yeah..." MJ frowned and traced a hand through the nasty gash on her right wrist, "I...I heard it talk to me. It said things..." She rubbed her eyes forcefully, "I hurt my mom, Glory. It made me snap."
"We heard about that. I was kinda wondering how you broke your door down," Betty commented, calm as always. At this point Gwen was convinced nothing could faze her, "I mean I just thought you went apeshit and tore it down with a sledgehammer."
"Yeah, well, Tiger's been helping me keep control..." MJ mumbled, "It's been...slow going, but we have enough of the suppressants to keep me stable as long as I don't get pissed off..."
"...Why didn't you tell me?" Gwen asked, looking the redhead straight in the eyes, "You...I'm one of your best friends, MJ! I would've helped you! I have experience with this!" She was pretty damn sure no one else on this city (and likely the planet) knew what it was like to be attached to a symbiote, "You didn't have to..."
"She was scared, Gwen," Peter answered for her, "She said she just needed time."
"I could've-"
"Could've what?" MJ snapped, "Told me all about how your monster complained about not getting enough chocolate? Gwen, you got lucky! 'Webster' was your fucking guardian angel, but this thing..." She balled her right hand into a shaky fist, "Every time it talks to me I feel like someone's dragging a rake through my skull. It showed me things...Gwen, I felt what it was like when you killed that monster Kasady. I didn't just see or remember it, it was like I was there!"
"I wouldn't have hurt you, MJ..." Gwen blinked away the tears that threatened to burst, "I'd never do that to any of you."
A flash of guilt passed by the singer's features and she looked away, "Maybe...but I'm not sure your bosses are the same."
"What are you talking about?"
"She's talking about the spooks...'Shield'." Peter scowled, "They made that thing and they damn well didn't pay for it. What do you think they'd do once they found out a piece of their 'little' mistake is still running around? Cause something tells me they won't care too much about Mary and more on what they can do with it."
"I'm not S.H.I.E.L.D!" Gwen shouted back, "Look, MJ, we need to get you checked out. We can talk to Janet-"
"Another expert?" She gave her a wary look, "No offense but the last time I tried to go to an expert it ended with me losing my shit in a cemetery."
"A cemetery..." The pieces clicked. Gwen's eyes widened and she let out a choked gasp, "W-Wait, the one that saved me from Cindy's evil twin...that was you?"
"...Yeah." MJ looked almost ashamed of herself, "She sent me there because she knew you were in danger. I turned into that thing to try and save you and..." A shuddering breath came and went, "I did keep you safe, but afterwards...I nearly killed my dad. That thing warped my mind so bad that I almost killed one of my fucking parents and with Peter I almost..."
"It's not your fault, Mary." Peter squeezed her left hand gently, "It was my mistake trusting Teresa, I'll admit that, but Ms. Van Dyne...I think she's a better bet. She was the one who told Gwen about the kid and what made it tick, and from what I gathered she doesn't have much love for the spooks after they made that monstrosity. If nothing else it seems like a better bet than trying to test your limits in a warehouse."
MJ nodded hesitantly and took a deep breath, "Alright, if you two are sure..."
"I-I'll call her now, we can get an appointment today." And if they couldn't do it the normal way she'd swing over there and break down the door.
The next few hours were a blur. Janet agreed to meet with them 'off the book' and soon enough they managed to explain what happened and asked for her help, which she agreed to without a hint of hesitation. Janet considered herself partly responsible for the incident since S.H.I.E.L.D used her research to create that red monstrosity, so at the very least she was damn sure she'd make sure Cap and the others didn't find out.
Nighttime finally hit and Janet shooed them away so MJ could stay over for an overnight inspection. Both Gwen and Peter reluctantly said their goodbyes and trudged back to the elevator in complete silence. They hadn't said much to each other the whole day, too focused on MJ's problem and how to fix it, and now she was torn between keeping the quiet and
As soon as the elevator doors closed Peter spoke, "...I'm sorry."
"For what...?" She gave him a sideways glance.
"Lying to you, for one." He leaned back on the wall and brought a hand through his hair, "She was your friend...you deserved to know."
"Yeah, I did..." She couldn't stop the bitterness in her voice, "...Look, I get why you did it and I'm glad you care about MJ, but you should've trusted me. I'm not S.H.I.E.L.D and I wouldn't have let them hurt her. You know that...right?" she asked, more uncertain than she would've liked.
"She said she'd tell you in a few days...I didn't want to push her. I know that's not much of an excuse, but..."
"...I'm not angry, Peter." She took a deep breath, "Well, actually, I am, but I don't completely hold it against you. You helped her the best you could and...I'm grateful for that, even if this entire thing's been a clusterfuck." She brought a hand through her face, "God, it feels like all our mistakes our coming back to haunt us, isn't it? Me being bitten fucked up all of our lives."
"There's that messiah complex again. Not everything is your fault, Gwen."
"Yeah, well, it feels like it sometimes." She smiled wryly. It would've been a decent note to end on, but she just had to open her mouth again, "...Did you and MJ really kiss?"
"...Yeah." Gwen winced. She was hoping he'd deny it somehow, "It isn't what you think. She was desperate, she nearly killed her dad and she was scared...it could've been anyone." He sighed, "I know it's not much of an excuse, but it's the truth."
"I understand..." It still hurt, but she understood.
The two of them walked in silence to the entrance and stopped in front of his bike, "Well...I should probably-"
That was as far as Peter got before Gwen grabbed his shirt and tugged him into an abrupt and messy kiss. He froze up slightly at the suddenness of it before he immediately reciprocated, hands settling on the small of her back. She was still angry with him, she decided, but she didn't want to end it on a sour note. After all the shit they were dealing with she was going to take every scrap of happiness that she could.
Regretting was better than not having, after all.
The two of them eventually separated and pressed their foreheads together, both panting for air. It was a familiar scene, and the words left her before she could stop herself, "I love you..."
It felt oddly liberating saying it face to face and her lips quirked up in a smile at the red on his cheeks. No matter what memories he had there were some things about Peter Parker that never changed.
"Gwen-"
"Come back with me," she interrupted, "It's been a few days and I want to introduce you to mom properly...I think you guys have a lot to talk about."
He didn't say anything, but the subtle nod was enough. They changed into their costumes (or in Peter's case just a mask) in a nearby alley and, after promising that no one would tow his bike, she swung them back to her house.
Up in the air between the skyscrapers and the flashing lights she almost forgot about her problems. She held on to Peter tighter as she swung in a higher arc, which earned her a grunt from her passenger. She'd always wondered what it would've been like to tell him when she was younger. She imagined he would've had stars in his eyes and begged her to take him web-swinging when she got the chance.
It wasn't how she thought it'd go, but they were both here now and that was good enough for her.
They finally stopped when the buildings and skyscrapers disappeared and walked the rest of the way home sans costumes. The silence returned, but this time it felt almost cozy. Things were still fucked up, but like she'd said before she'd take what happiness she could get.
"Mom?" Gwen opened the door and paused when she caught her mother sitting down at the sofa and staring the Upad. She hadn't looked up to acknowledge them at all, "Uh...mom?"
She finally looked up to meet her gaze and she smiled, which for some reason just made her feel like something was wrong, "Oh, honey, there you are." Her gaze shifted to Peter and her smile widened, "Oh, this is little Peter, right? Not so little anymore, though...time sure flies."
"Uh...yeah." Her eyes narrowed, "Mom...what are you looking at?"
"Hmm? Oh, just looking at this new tweeter thing. People post just about anything, apparently." She laughed softly and offered her the tablet, "Take a look."
Gwen looked at the screen and froze when she saw the contents. She knew Jessica got a lot of attention ever since she helped save people during The Incident, but seeing people make posts and posts about her love life was still a surprise. Gwen just barely noticed the 'Superpowered P.I and Former Police Chief Romance!' someone up top posted in favor of the pictures and discussions down below.
Proof of the things they weren't ready to talk about.
"Oops, right?" Her mom laughed again, though she didn't get far before her smile turned wry, "I knew it was a possibility, but wow...hurts more than I thought."
"M-Mom-"
"Look, honey, you don't have to explain. It's been ten years...I'm glad he moved on." Gwen could see the suppressed tears clear as day, "I...look, it's been a long day, so I'm gonna hit the sack...tell George I'll be using the guest room from now on, okay? Night."
In the end Gwen could only watch her mom trudge her way up the stairs. Her grip on the tablet tightened hard enough to crack the screen and even with Peter putting a hand on her shoulder she couldn't stop herself from screaming in absolute frustration.
For a second it looked like it was gonna end on a slightly upbeat note, but then I remembered who I am; just can't help myself, can I? Ah well, good news is MJ's getting more expert help. Bad news is Gwen's mom found out about the Jessica/George thing in one of the worst ways possible since Gwen dawdled around in actually telling her. She can only blame herself for that.
Next chapter is the family (plus Noir) having a talk about the weird parental situation Gwen has currently found herself in. And maybe something else afterwards, if I can fit it in. Maybe something with Spider-Man and Shadowcat? Guess we'll see.
Anyway, apologies if Gwen's behavior in this chapter came across as overtly clingy or dramatic, but I thought it was a rational response to the idea that her (kinda) boyfriend and one of her best friends were sneaking around behind her back to have some kind of love affair. She does drop it afterwards when she finds out the truth and only asks about the kiss, which is still a pretty sensible thing to be curious about.
Questions:
1. The talk about alternate dimensions is making me think about the team compositions for the fic. For the Avengers it's an easy enough sell since the members are all actual members or close enough to their contemporaries to fit, but what about the Defenders? I based a decent chunk of it on the MCU Defenders - street level vigilantes fighting the Hand - but the members are hit or miss.
Is the team make-up fine with you guys? Cause Noir, Bombshell, Black Cat, Moon Knight, Punisher and freaking Bullseye seem like they're a poor fit for a team that's ultimately supposed to work together, especially since many of them don't know or barely interact with one another in canon. It's also somewhat glaring given that Jessica Jones and Danny Rand exist in the fic and yet they're unlikely to group up.
2. Following on the above, are there any Earth-65 version heroes you guys might want to appear? Within reason, of course, since I can't have the Guardians of the Galaxy showing up. I've already gotten comments from a few others to include Ghost Rider...
3. For a future chapter question, do you guys still want the carnival date chapter between Gwen and Peter to happen or do you think it no longer fits due to how heavy everything is now? And if you guys do want it, then which POV would be best? Because the tone would change dependent on it.
Guess that romance will have to wait. Also, the dimension hopping question got a lot more attention than I thought it would. Now I'm actually wondering if it'd be better to do the opposite and have other heroes drop in on Earth-65 temporarily for a filler arc. Guess we'll see.Anyway, Noir's been lacking in POV's lately, hasn't he? He doesn't have any in this chapter and might not even for the next :/ Really gotta fix this soon, cause he's starting to feel like a side-character who's there to just support the others. On the other hand his POV's would jump straight to the Jack arc, so it's a catch-22...
I also watched through the Punisher and I have to say I like the chemistry between Karen Page and Frank Castle. Many consider it romantic, others don't, but I can't deny that the chemistry and the acting to convey it are definitely top notch. If possible I would've wanted that for Gwen and Peter, but with their relationship now it'd probably be better if Peter had this kind of interplay with Cindy, Mary Jane or Bullseye.
Side note - New job next week and I've recently gotten into the new Deus Ex, so update rate might change.
Chapter 97: Spiders and Symbiotes
Peter wasn't there; Gwen wasn't even surprised. She called and waited till the clock was close to striking midnight, but neither he or (presumably) MJ showed up again and she ended that night torn between being worried and pissed off. Normally she didn't like losing contact with her friends for an extended period of time, but she knew Peter well enough to know that he could go days without every picking up his phone.
The last part of the 30's that refused to let go. She hoped that was the only part that did...
She swung all the way back to Queens (she spent so much time there Betty was already making jokes about finding another roommate) and by the time she finally got home she was pretty sure she'd left about two dozen calls to both Peter and MJ, "God damn it..." She opened the door and was greeted with absolute darkness. That meant her mom and dad were asleep, which was a mixed blessing considering all the crap they still had to deal with.
Gwen trudged back to her room and let the costume fade away as she slumped on the bed, leaving her in nothing but her underwear. She felt exhausted, and it wasn't just because she knew she had to get up bright and early tomorrow for another charity show. Everything was getting too much - being an Avenger, knowing S.H.I.E.L.D was responsible for the that other symbiote (and having to keep it a secret...), Peter's identity, Webster's death, her mom coming back, MJ going missing(?), Peter and MJ (supposedly...hopefully not) kissing...
It made her wish that everything would stop for just one fucking day so she could catch her breath, cause right now she just wanted to scream.
A dreamless sleep came and went and by the time she woke up half an hour past six in the morning she felt just as tired as she had the night prior, "Ugh..." Gwen forced herself off the bed and forced her way to the bathroom. She washed up on the sink and glared at her reflection in the mirror. Supermodel and heiress by day and Superhero by night? Hah, yeah...she couldn't even get into a relationship that wasn't fucked in the head.
She let the costume shift into a long sleeved shirt and a pair of shorts - she'd finally gotten better at shifting it around, even if the damn colors on her costume refused to budge - and walked quietly to her mom and dad's room. Opening the door by just a tiny crack, Gwen smiled slightly when she caught sight of the two of them sleeping on the bed. It was bittersweet, knowing what she did, but the sight of her mom being, well, alive, was one of the best things she could've gotten after the clusterfuck the past few things were.
The other best things were getting together with Peter and her dad proposing, but right now she didn't want to think of either of those...
She rubbed the dull white and pink band on her left ring finger as she went down the stairs. It was just a cheap ring; she'd seen them for sale on some of the kiosks she passed by, and it was definitely tacky to wear her own merch for funsies, but she couldn't help but be attached to it. Peter got it for her, who cared if it was cheap or dumb looking? It was the thought that mattered and all that cliche bullshit...and she couldn't deny that the thought of him on one knee wasn't appealing in some way.
Shit, she sounded like one of those sappy rom-com characters...
Shaking her head, Gwen put on a pair of black sandals and ran out of the house. The charity event wouldn't start for another couple of hours, which gave her some time to kill. A part of her was tempted to go out and search for MJ (and Peter), but she knew it was pointless. If she couldn't find them yesterday then she couldn't find them now.
Well, at least she knew MJ was safe. If she was with her Peter then it was pretty damn unlikely she was staying out in the street, which was a load off her shoulders.
Patrol was actually pretty uneventful apart from running into the Protectors again, which wasn't as stressful as last time since 'Tarot' still kept to her promise of staying home and the guy who called himself Cypher was a no-show. Granted that meant she had to babys- er, team up with just Frog-Man, Slyde (seriously, how was he not in jail?) and that Ice Cream dude, but at least it took her mind off everything else for a bit.
By the time it was nearing nine she'd said her goodbyes (and dodged their offers to exchange numbers) and made her way to the convention center. In all honesty she wanted to skip. Any other day she would've been ecstatic to get charity money for just a few flips and waves, but with everything else happening she really wished that she could for once just leave it to Kate; which she totally would have if Kate wasn't busy with her own family thing. Couple that with a promise to Shulkie and Gwen and Cindy (the only other person she could rope into doing this) were left to carry a show all on their own.
In their defense it wasn't terrible, but without MJ as the MC or She-Hulk to be the big attraction it definitely wasn't the fist-pumping 'mericuh, ^&*$ yeah!' moment the last one was. Neither of them were really built to be front and center like this - there was a reason Gwen preferred to be in the back with her drums while MJ soaked the attention - and Cindy definitely wasn't one for showboating after 10 years of being alone in a bunker.
That and being the center of attention just reminded her of how shallow she was 5 years ago...
The two Spiders breathed a sigh of relief when they arrived at their temporary room, "Thank fuck that's over..." Cindy collapsed on the couch back first, legs spread out across the cushions in a way that said 'fuck off, it's all mine'.
Gwen rolled her eyes and plopped down on one of the chairs, resisting the urge to sit on the wall as she always did. She was sure there were no cameras or recorders around - their spider-senses would've warned them otherwise - but there was something about getting guest rooms as Spider-Woman that still felt off to her. Like any second now the walls were gonna come down and everyone was gonna call her a menace again.
"That was a trip," Gwen said.
"Yeah, putting on a show up there...makes me think I'm like one of those Phantom Thieves of Hearts guys in Japan. Flashy isn't my style, you know?"
A couple of minutes of comfortable silence passed before Gwen finally spoke up again, "Hey, thanks..." Cindy cracked an eye open and gave her a half-lidded glance, "For coming with, I mean. I promised Shulkie I'd do this, but I'm not sure I could've done it alone."
"You kidding me?" She snorted and propped herself up higher on the cushions, "You're Spider-Woman. You could've gone on stage and burped the alphabet and everyone here would eat it up."
"Yeah...I think you're overestimating me." What was with people telling her she was the second coming of Captain America? First it was Peter and Tony Stark and now Cindy was getting in on it, too.
"If you say so. All I'm saying is I can't go a single block without seeing a store selling your hoodies or one of your ads. You remind me of the Fantastic 4 back home: everyone loved em and wanted to know everything about them...it was actually pretty fucking creepy." She looked Gwen in the eyes, "Just a tip: don't let anyone find out who you are. Ever. Second you do you can kiss privacy goodbye."
"Wasn't planning on an unmasking, Spinerette." She doubted anyone else could even take off her mask at all without her say so. Something told her the suit didn't like anyone else grabbing it, Webster or no, "'Sides, the worst people already know who I am..." Cindy's evil twin and Murderdock...she would've been lying if she said she hadn't stayed awake at night worrying that she was putting everyone in danger. Truth be told she had no idea why they hadn't done more with that knowledge.
Best she could figure they didn't want to draw attention to themselves. If everyone knew then they couldn't really use it, could they?
"I know what you mean..." The older Spider sat up with a huff and brought both hands through her hair, "I'm still waiting for the other shoe to drop, you know? Like any second now my evil twin's gonna bust in her and drag me back to my cell."
"Well if she tries it she'll have to deal with the rest of the Avengers." And Peter. The two were way friendlier than one would think looking at them, though she shouldn't have been surprised; the same could be about him and most of his friends, herself included, "...You talked to Spider-Man recently?"
"Not since we visited my family, no." She shook her head. Gwen just wondered when they found the time to do that, "Why, is something wrong? I said he could call me if he ran into problems with that devil lawyer."
"The fact that we're even talking about a possessed kingpin like it's normal says a lot, doesn't it?" Then again her mom and best friend got resurrected, so who the fuck was she to say it was too stupid to believe? S.H.I.E.L.D probably knew all about it, though; they still had a lookout for Uncle Ben and Aunt May last she checked, "...Hey, can I ask you something else?"
"Can't promise I'll answer, but shoot."
"Well..." Gwen licked her lips nervously and deliberated her next words, "You're partnered with you know who now, right?"
"Partnered's not the word I'd use, but sure, I guess." Cindy shrugged, "Why?"
"How is he? I mean I message him sometimes but he seems...weird." She learned to read into both his and Peter's messages long ago, and right now the clipped responses screamed at her that something was definitely up, "I...the past few days have been pretty fucked up, and I'd really appreciate it if at least one of my friends didn't turn out to be missing or fucked up without me knowing..."
"I think you're a little too late on Gobby not being fucked up, Spidey." Gwen winced at the blunt words. She'd forgiven Harry for trying to kill her (wow, that still sounded weird...), but she understood that not everyone else was so easy to let bygones be bygones. Especially not the people whose lives he ruined... "Look, he's alright. He gets kinda mopey sometimes, but I think that's just him being emo about his dad. It comes and goes."
"Yeah, I guess so..." He always had issues with Norman Osborn, though for the life of her she couldn't figure out why. Hating him for being distant was one thing, but this was another breed altogether, "This is a weird question, but...do you trust him?"
Cindy looked at her silently for a few seconds before she replied, "Nope." Again, Gwen had to wince. She was expecting it, but the lack of hesitation was still enough to make her fumble, "I get that he's your friend and all, but my evil twin couldn't have gotten the serum if he didn't give it to them. I've seen the piles of dead bodies, Spider-Woman...and if I was rescued just a few days later I would've been one of them. So I'm not in a really trusting mood considering he got off because daddy paid his bail."
"Yeah..."
"Look, I trust him not to stab me in the back and that's it. I wouldn't exactly invite him over to family visits, but I can at least be sure he'll help out in a fight and that he won't go black widow on me after we sleep together. He might be fucked up, but I like to think he's not so stupid that he'd screw over one of the few people willing to help him with his little vigilante crusade."
Well, Gwen couldn't say she was surprised. The amount of people that liked Harry could probably be counted on one hand, and that included her and (probably) not his own dad- wait a minute.
...
"...Did you just say you slept together?" Gwen blurted out, causing the other Spider to look at her with a raised eyebrow, "I mean, I didn't mishear that, right? Or did you mean you were so tired that you slept in the same bed without realizing-"
"We fucked, Spider-Woman." Gwen's mouth opened and closed, but no sound came. That...wasn't what she expected to hear, "I mean, it's not a big deal-"
"Not a big deal?! You just said you didn't trust him!"
"Yeah, and I just told told you that I at least know he's not gonna stab me in the back, even if it is selfish!" she shot back, "Look, you've been to bars before, right? You've never gone back with a guy for a one night stand?"
"I mean, yeah, but-"
"And would you trust any of those guys with your secret identity and all this crazy shit?"
"Well, not really-"
"Same thing, then," Cindy said, ignoring Gwen's fish-eyed gape, "Look, it's nothing, alright? We did it a couple of times and we both agreed it didn't change anything...and, to be blunt, I've been trapped in a bunker since I was eighteen. You can't exactly blame me for not being picky, especially since Bobby takes S.H.I.E.L.D's fraternization rules really seriously and the cop I tried to ask out was apparently happily married with a son on the way."
"Jesus Christ..." Gwen pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed. She knew the other Spider was older and more cynical than she appeared, but the blasé way she talked about sleeping with someone she didn't trust or even apparently like all that much was still surprising. No wonder she and Peter got along so well, "Just...make sure not to hurt him, alright? He can be...fragile sometimes."
Translation: he could overreact about things that weren't his fault.
"You worry too much, Spidey." Cindy snorted, "Look, it'll be fine. I mean you and 'Dark Spider' seem to make it work somehow."
Gwen was about to respond before a knock on their room door interrupted her. Without missing a beat Cindy jumped off the couch and opened the door before Gwen could ask her to wait up.
The man on the other side was vaguely familiar. His hair was a curly blonde and the his jawline was covered in a scruffy and thick stubble; definitely good looking from what she saw. The neatly trimmed suit said businessman, but the worn yellow shoes cut through that image quickly. It was like he tried to dress up but forgot about the last bit.
"Good morning." He bowed slightly and stepped back from Cindy, "Uh, this might seem weird, but could I talk to Spider-Woman for a bit? We need to discuss a mutual friend."
"A mutual friend? Do tell." Maybe it was just dealing with that Roxxon guy, but Gwen definitely didn't feel good about speaking alone with business types on her own.
"She introduced herself as Teresa?"
Gwen sucked in a sudden breath, and Cindy wasn't far behind given the way her grip on the doorway tightened. As if sensing their distress the blonde man held up both hands in a calming gesture, "I understand that she can be...difficult, so I went in her stead. I was hoping we could talk."
"What the fuck does she want?" Gwen snapped. She didn't like Teresa, and from what she gathered from Peter apparently that wasn't a rare reaction.
"It concerns your friend, someone named Mary Jane Watson?"
That was enough for her to let him in. Both Gwen and Cindy sat on the couch while the guy, who introduced himself as Daniel Rand - "Call me Danny" - sat on the chair across from them. Looking closer it was easy to tell that he was just as uncertain about it as they were, which was a little relieving. After Teresa's browbeating she didn't want to deal with another guy who had his head up his ass.
"How do you know this Teresa person?" Cindy asked, arms crossed and eyes narrowed.
"Better question is how you know Teresa, Spinerette. Last I checked you weren't into this mystical bullshit," Gwen said.
"She texted me out of the blue, said I was 'a spider taken into another weave'. I thought she was just high."
"She wasn't high, and it's not 'mystical bullshit'," Danny said, sounding distinctly offended, "This might seem hard to believe, but magic is just as real as the radioactive spiders that gave you your gifts."
"How do you know about that?" Gwen's eyes narrowed. They hadn't told anyone outside of their friends and family about how they got their powers.
"Like I said, we have a mutual friend and the both of us are fighting a mutual enemy in the Hand." Gwen pursed her lips. Murderdock's ninjas...it was a stupid fucking name, especially since the ninjas fought more like drunk banzai chargers.
"Okay, so what's this got to do with Car- Mary Jane?" Cindy asked.
"Teresa was involved in something regarding Spider-Woman's friend. She didn't tell me what it was exactly, but whatever she did Spider-Man cut off contact with her." He leaned forward and pressed his hands together, expression grave, "I get why he might be angry with her, but if he keeps going like this then both him and Miss. Watson are going to be in danger. They can't fight the Hand without help."
"I offered to help and she told me to piss off." Gwen scoffed.
"She has her reasons, even if it can get...frustrating sometimes." His smile was strained, "I'm not going to defend or condemn her, I'm just here to deliver a message: if you want to see your friend again then go to her apartment. She'll arrive at about 1:30 tomorrow afternoon and you can question her on her disappearance."
"Another vision? Just fucking perfect..." Gwen clicked her tongue. She wanted to tell him to piss off, but 1. he didn't deserve that for giving a message and 2. she was so desperate to find MJ again that she was willing to take it, "Alright, fine...thanks."
"You're welcome. For what it's worth I do hope you find your friend." His next smile as more sincere and oddly calming.
"Thanks...hey, I'm curious. If you're Daniel Rand, CEO and lost heir of Rand Industries, how exactly did you get a 'mutual friend' in Teresa? She doesn't seem like the businessman type."
"Neither am I, really. I'm the Immortal Iron Fist, protector of Kun Lun, living weapon and sworn enemy of the Hand. I was raised by monks after the plane crash to channel the chi in my body as both protector and warrior."
A pregnant silence settled over the group before Cindy quickly broke it, "Okay, that's it, I'm done." She held up her hands and stood, head shaking, "I still have to deal with a bunch of shit like the Toxic Mega Assholes and the Arsenic Candy gang and I really don't need to deal with a modern day Tarzan. My BS meter's filled up for the day."
"Is it really so hard to believe?" Danny asked, "You both got powers from something that 'logically' shouldn't have happened, and if I'm understanding Teresa right apparently you aren't even from this world. Why is the thought of chi and martial arts so alien to people? I could even prove it to you if you wanted."
"I'm not saying I don't believe you, Bruce Lee, but this stuff is just over my head." Cindy huffed, "Look, if Spider-Man or anyone else needs help then I'm there, but I'm not gonna get this stuff even if you scream it at me. I can barely understand Ezekiel's bullcrap about the Bride and the web of life - all I know is it's the reason I lost 10 years of my life, so this mystical bullshit can piss off."
"Yeah, I kinda have to go with Spinerette here. I actually do believe you, because God knows I've seen enough that I can't say it's not real, but could we hold off on it, at least until I see my friend again?"
"If that's what you want." He tried to hide it, but he was definitely bummed out; like someone who didn't get the applause after show and tell, "I'll tell Teresa that you'll be meeting your friend again. Hopefully this fight will end soon."
Yeah...hopefully.
"You need a costume."
"Nope." Mary Jane didn't even look up from her stretching to meet her sister's no-doubt smiling face. Felicia suggested that she test how far she could stretch and maneuver herself, even giving her a yoga instruction book. According to her it was 'good for a lot of things, and not just for relaxing'; and Mary Jane definitely didn't miss the coy and teasing smile on her face when she'd said it.
Was it good, bad or just fucking weird that Felicia had no problems flirting with someone attached to a murderous monster?"
"Oh come on, why not?" Gayle whined. Mary Jane finally turned up and responded to her pout with a completely flat look, "You have powers now, are you seriously just gonna run around with a t-shirt and jeans?"
"Tiger makes it work." She shrugged and laid her hands flat on the makeshift mat as she shifted into another position, "Also, are you forgetting that it was literally just two days ago we were talking about how much I didn't want this monster in me and that it's been a fucking nightmare?"
"Yeah, but you seem to be handling it just fine."
"That's only cause you're here for a couple of hours and don't see me when I'm throwing up and crying for it to stop." Both of them winced at the poor attempt a joke. Mary Jane shifted to another position to distract herself and let out a tired breath, "...Look, what made you bring it up?"
"I dunno, I just figured you could do some good, is all..." Gayle looked down and played with the straps of her Spider-Woman (really?) backpack, "I mean I didn't say anything before, but when I first saw you carrying that thing I thought you might've been Spider-Woman."
"That would mean you would've been making fanfics about the two of us screwing, and this entire thing's fucked up enough without adding that into the mix." Mary Jane raised herself to a proper stand again and rubbed at her neck.
She declined to comment on the fact that Gayle was technically making fanfics about screwing Gwen, which wasn't much better on the weirdness scale.
"Ugh, you didn't have to say that." Gayle made an exaggerated noise of disgust, "All I'm saying is you got superpowers now. Don't tell me you're not at least tempted to try and do something with it? To help people?"
She already did. Without her Gwen would've been taken by that robo-bitch for God only knew what, "Look, even if I wanted to I can barely control this thing. The only reason I'm not running around with tentacles outta my ass is cause Tiger's making sure that this thing doesn't wake up." Apparently he called in a favor to that Bullseye guy who called in a favor to someone else so they could get her at least one dose of suppressant a day. They were still rationing, but it was definitely a relief.
"Yeah, I guess..."
Gayle played with the straps of her backpack again and Mary Jane sighed. She could already tell where this was going, "...You have a costume in your backpack, don't you?"
"Er...kinda?" The half-cocked grin Gayle gave her cause Mary Jane to facepalm, "Hey, I mean, it's not mine!" She unzipped the bag in a hurry and pulled out red onesie and a blue sleeveless hoodie that Mary Jane instantly recognized as her old halloween costume, "You were the one who made it, remember? The Scarlet Spider!"
"Yeah, for Halloween! Betty also dressed up as that Ghost Rider guy, if you remember!" Mary Jane crossed her arms, "Look, do you really expect me to dress up in a onesie and run around beating up muggers and pimps?" Why did she make it sound so absurd? Gwen was doing it and there was a hero craze going on. It might've been weirder for her not to consider doing it.
"Well it's better than doing it in a t-shirt and yoga pants!" Gayle shot back, gesturing to her dirty and sweat-stained outfit. Her choice of clothes were definitely on the poorer side right now, "Look, it's easy, just put it on under your clothes and keep the mask, gloves and shoes off till you gotta fight crime! All the superheroes do it!"
"Yeah, in comics! And I'm not even fighting crime!"
They argued for the next ten minutes before Mary Jane eventually caved and agreed to put it on. She grabbed the clothes and gave Peter a sideways glance. He sat at the corner nearby and nursed a Styrofoam cup of coffee without so much as a single word, which was more than a little creepy, if she was being honest, but with Felicia and Norah being busy with their own thing today she couldn't say she minded his silent looks. Actions spoke louder than words and he definitely had a good track record with her.
She changed inside one of the cargo containers and when she'd stepped out in full costume she was immediately met with an excited squee and a wave of claps from her sister, "You look so cool!" Gayle said, which caused Mary Jane to roll her eyes. She didn't say that when she put the costume on last year, "Ohh, now all you need are webs and your own Spider signal and you can be just like Spider-Woman!"
"A signal would tell everyone where you are," Peter mumbled, which got him an annoyed glance from her sister. For someone she considered a Supervillain Gayle seemed to have no problems completely ignoring him when it came down to it, "And last I checked Mary couldn't stick to walls, which makes the webs less practical compared to when Spider-Woman uses it."
"No one asked you." Gayle rolled her eyes.
"Mary didn't ask you about being a hero either, but you're still wasting her time with dress up. Here's a free tip, kid: heroes aren't about fame and fans and people die when they go up against psychopaths with guns."
"Christ, you're such a downer! I don't get how you're friends with Spider-Woman and Spinerette."
"Guess that's something else you'll be wondering about." He lowered the cup of coffee and gestured Mary Jane, "Come on, Mary, we gotta go back to your place and your sister has to get back to school. And do me a favor, Watson: try not to draw any more attention to Lana, would you? Things are already bad enough with her dad, she doesn't need you pointing out she's apparently 'besties' with Spider-Man."
"Alright, alright, geez..." She was being snappy about it, but Mary Jane could tell the two were getting along. Gayle usually clammed up to strangers unless they earned her trust and Peter...well, he was always a bit of a sourpuss. Definitely one thing that hadn't changed from him coming back from the dead, "...And hey, don't blame her for taking me here, alright? She didn't know it was supposed to be a secret."
"Yeah, yeah..."
Soon enough Gayle said her goodbyes and the two of them (after she'd put some proper clothes on over the onesie) were on the way back to her apartment on Peter's motorcycle. Mary Jane tightened her grip on Peter's mid-section and closed her eyes, letting the rush of wind cool her through her helmet. It probably had nothing compared to the web-swinging Gwen and Spinerette did, but she wasn't complaining. It relaxed her, and for now that was enough.
Before she knew it they'd parked on the street across her apartment. Mary Jane swallowed nervously and looked up at the (not at all) imposing structure. It'd only been a little over a week, but it felt so odd being back here. It shouldn't have been - it was her home for the past couple of years - but right now all she could think about was that stupid fight she had with Glory.
"...You okay?" Peter asked her softly.
"Yeah...mostly." She took a deep breath and stepped off the bike. She didn't want to come back here, not yet, but she needed to get some of her things. Gayle helped her out by bringing her clothes, but most of her things were still up there. She knew for a fact that Glory had a family thing today, so this would be one of the few times she was sure she'd be alone. She just had to take some of her stuff and go.
"We can leave if you want."
"Too late now. If I don't come back in twenty minutes then you'll probably need to swing in." She'd meant it as a joke, but it sounded more like a plea. Shaking her head, she trudged up the stairs towards her room and kept her head down. She doubted anyone in the building would recognize her, but it was better safe than sorry. According to her sister she was still missing, and she wanted to keep it that way for a few more days.
She turned the key on the locked door and pushed it open slowly. The inside was abandoned, which caused her to breath a sigh of relief, "Alright..." Her phone said it was 1:20, meaning she had at least a couple of hours before Glory got back.
The place was neater than she remembered...
It was hard to admit, but her old bed was definitely a sight for sore eyes, "God..." She collapsed face-first on top of it and took a deep breath, mouth quirking up in a smile. It was just like how she remembered it.
She should've been getting her stuff, but she couldn't help but let her eyes flutter close. The past few days were fucking exhausting, and being here again...it made it easy to pretend that things were normal again, that she could just apologize to Glory (or Glory could apologize to her...) and everything would be fine and dandy again and they could go back to getting gigs to pay their rent.
The fatigue caught up with her so much that she didn't hear the door opening and the footsteps that came afterwards till it was too late.
Mary Jane got up on the bed with a gasp, "Fuck!" That wasn't Peter; there were too many footsteps. Muttering another curse to herself, she made her way to the window and looked outside, "God damn it..." The fall was steep. She'd fallen from longer before, but that was when that monster was under control. Could she make it on her own? Did she want to risk it?
She never got the chance to decide before the door opened.
"MJ!"
...Shit.
Mary Jane turned around and cringed when she saw Glory, Betty and Gwen standing on the doorway; and, more importantly, blocking her only other escape route. She was tempted to jump for it now, but with Gwen there she didn't like her chances of being able to run.
She had to be cool about this, "Uh...hey, you guys, wh-what's up?"
Okay...that was terrible, and judging by the fuming look on Glory's face the others definitely noticed it, too.
"'What's up'?!" Glory stepped closer and poked her in the chest hard, further blocking her chances of escape, "MJ, you've been missing for over a week! We've been running all over town putting up wanted posters everywhere! Do you have any idea how worried we were?! You didn't pick up your phone and your mom and Gayle had no idea where you went! They thought you might've died!"
"I'm fine..." She already heard this lecture from Gayle, she didn't need it from Glory, "I...I just needed some time alone."
"Time alone? That's what you call this?" Glory asked incredulously, "Where the fuck were you, MJ?"
"Just...around." Why did she feel like a 5 year old with her hand in the cookie jar? Glory wasn't her damn mom or anything, "Look, I left for a few days and now I'm back, could we just let it go?"
"Let it go? Dude, you were like totally MIA," Betty 'helpfully' supplied, "I mean, what the fuck happened? You join a cult or something?"
"What- no, no! Jesus, I was just-"
"Hanging out with Peter?"
The accusation in Gwen's voice was clear as day. Mary Jane turned and cringed when she caught the blonde's expectant look. Seeing her again should've been a relief, but all she felt right now was a lingering sense of dread. The last person who was attached to this monster got killed, "Um...what?" Mary Jane said softly.
"I was asking if you were hanging out with Peter." Gwen pursed her lips, "Cause according to Mr. Albie you two were out at the Dollar Dog a few nights ago."
"That's..." Mary Jane stopped. What could she say? She'd asked Peter and the others to keep it a secret so there was no way she could play innocent here, "We were just..."
"...He said you two were kissing, MJ. Is that true?" Gwen asked, voice lowered into a whisper.
It came to her all at once: going 'missing' for days only to get caught kissing someone's boyfriend at some fast food joint. For all the world it must have looked like Peter was cheating on Gwen with her, 'Oh, shit...' Mary Jane covered her face with both hands and groaned. This wasn't how she wanted this to go. At all, "Look, Gwen, it-it's not what you think, okay? Tiger and I...it wasn't-"
"Then what was it?" she snapped, Glory and Betty just looking between them in utter silence, "Cause honestly, MJ, I'm drawing up fucking blanks here and I don't know what the hell else could be going on."
It was just then that the cherry on this shit sundae arrived. Before Mary Jane could fumble a reply the front door opened and Peter stepped inside, "Mary, we have to-" He stopped when he caught sight of the four of them all bunched up together, "...Damn it."
"Oh, great, man of the hour himself." Glory rolled her eyes, "Maybe you can explain."
"There's nothing to explain!" Mary Jane cut in, "Look, what Mr. Albie saw? Not what it was, not even close! I've just...I've been dealing with some stuff and Peter helped me out, okay? Nothing's happening or going on."
"Then explain it to us, MJ." Glory said, "Look, I'm sorry for arguing with you, I'll admit I was being an ass and you were right, but would you just quit it with the mystery girl act and tell us what the hell's going on? Cause right now you're still filed as missing by the police!"
"I...I can't..." She shut her eyes desperately and clenched her hands into tight fists. Now she knew how Gwen felt all those years, keeping it all a secret from them, "Trust me, if it was just cheating it'd be so easy..."
She tried to step past Gwen to put some distance, but the blonde's hand shot out and grabbed her right wrist. Mary Jane just barely heard her say something about explanations and slowing down, but she didn't care for it. The entirety of her right arm pulsated and Peter screamed out a warning just before she lashed out.
"Let go of me!" She shoved Gwen off with enough force to make her fly through the air and hit the wall- or at least she would have if she hadn't flipped mid-air and attached herself to it by her fingertips and feet. The redhead let out a frustrated growl and glared up at her surprised face, tendrils of red running up her neck to her jaw and causing all three of them to gasp.
MJ's rising bout of anger was quickly numbed when a a cold syringe pressed through the right side of her neck. She turned around and lashed out towards the source only for Peter to grab her wrist mid-swing and pull it down, "Calm down, Mary..." He pulled the syringe back and cupped the her left cheek gently. She instinctively found herself leaning into his touch.
Peter turned to the other three in the room and frowned, "...We can explain."
This was a nightmare.
Gwen sat at a chair and covered her face with both hands as MJ and Peter explained everything. How she'd gotten attacked in that alley, how that monster seeped into her wounds and then...
She shook her head. This was all too much; she almost wished the two of them really were having an illicit love affair. It would hurt, but at least MJ would've been safe and not...bonded to that thing.
"Holy shit..." Glory said after the two of them finally finished, "So that thing that was on that Cletus Kasady guy...it's alive and it's on you?"
"That's what I said, yeah..." MJ frowned and traced a hand through the nasty gash on her right wrist, "I...I heard it talk to me. It said things..." She rubbed her eyes forcefully, "I hurt my mom, Glory. It made me snap."
"We heard about that. I was kinda wondering how you broke your door down," Betty commented, calm as always. At this point Gwen was convinced nothing could faze her, "I mean I just thought you went apeshit and tore it down with a sledgehammer."
"Yeah, well, Tiger's been helping me keep control..." MJ mumbled, "It's been...slow going, but we have enough of the suppressants to keep me stable as long as I don't get pissed off..."
"...Why didn't you tell me?" Gwen asked, looking the redhead straight in the eyes, "You...I'm one of your best friends, MJ! I would've helped you! I have experience with this!" She was pretty damn sure no one else on this city (and likely the planet) knew what it was like to be attached to a symbiote, "You didn't have to..."
"She was scared, Gwen," Peter answered for her, "She said she just needed time."
"I could've-"
"Could've what?" MJ snapped, "Told me all about how your monster complained about not getting enough chocolate? Gwen, you got lucky! 'Webster' was your fucking guardian angel, but this thing..." She balled her right hand into a shaky fist, "Every time it talks to me I feel like someone's dragging a rake through my skull. It showed me things...Gwen, I felt what it was like when you killed that monster Kasady. I didn't just see or remember it, it was like I was there!"
"I wouldn't have hurt you, MJ..." Gwen blinked away the tears that threatened to burst, "I'd never do that to any of you."
A flash of guilt passed by the singer's features and she looked away, "Maybe...but I'm not sure your bosses are the same."
"What are you talking about?"
"She's talking about the spooks...'Shield'." Peter scowled, "They made that thing and they damn well didn't pay for it. What do you think they'd do once they found out a piece of their 'little' mistake is still running around? Cause something tells me they won't care too much about Mary and more on what they can do with it."
"I'm not S.H.I.E.L.D!" Gwen shouted back, "Look, MJ, we need to get you checked out. We can talk to Janet-"
"Another expert?" She gave her a wary look, "No offense but the last time I tried to go to an expert it ended with me losing my shit in a cemetery."
"A cemetery..." The pieces clicked. Gwen's eyes widened and she let out a choked gasp, "W-Wait, the one that saved me from Cindy's evil twin...that was you?"
"...Yeah." MJ looked almost ashamed of herself, "She sent me there because she knew you were in danger. I turned into that thing to try and save you and..." A shuddering breath came and went, "I did keep you safe, but afterwards...I nearly killed my dad. That thing warped my mind so bad that I almost killed one of my fucking parents and with Peter I almost..."
"It's not your fault, Mary." Peter squeezed her left hand gently, "It was my mistake trusting Teresa, I'll admit that, but Ms. Van Dyne...I think she's a better bet. She was the one who told Gwen about the kid and what made it tick, and from what I gathered she doesn't have much love for the spooks after they made that monstrosity. If nothing else it seems like a better bet than trying to test your limits in a warehouse."
MJ nodded hesitantly and took a deep breath, "Alright, if you two are sure..."
"I-I'll call her now, we can get an appointment today." And if they couldn't do it the normal way she'd swing over there and break down the door.
The next few hours were a blur. Janet agreed to meet with them 'off the book' and soon enough they managed to explain what happened and asked for her help, which she agreed to without a hint of hesitation. Janet considered herself partly responsible for the incident since S.H.I.E.L.D used her research to create that red monstrosity, so at the very least she was damn sure she'd make sure Cap and the others didn't find out.
Nighttime finally hit and Janet shooed them away so MJ could stay over for an overnight inspection. Both Gwen and Peter reluctantly said their goodbyes and trudged back to the elevator in complete silence. They hadn't said much to each other the whole day, too focused on MJ's problem and how to fix it, and now she was torn between keeping the quiet and
As soon as the elevator doors closed Peter spoke, "...I'm sorry."
"For what...?" She gave him a sideways glance.
"Lying to you, for one." He leaned back on the wall and brought a hand through his hair, "She was your friend...you deserved to know."
"Yeah, I did..." She couldn't stop the bitterness in her voice, "...Look, I get why you did it and I'm glad you care about MJ, but you should've trusted me. I'm not S.H.I.E.L.D and I wouldn't have let them hurt her. You know that...right?" she asked, more uncertain than she would've liked.
"She said she'd tell you in a few days...I didn't want to push her. I know that's not much of an excuse, but..."
"...I'm not angry, Peter." She took a deep breath, "Well, actually, I am, but I don't completely hold it against you. You helped her the best you could and...I'm grateful for that, even if this entire thing's been a clusterfuck." She brought a hand through her face, "God, it feels like all our mistakes our coming back to haunt us, isn't it? Me being bitten fucked up all of our lives."
"There's that messiah complex again. Not everything is your fault, Gwen."
"Yeah, well, it feels like it sometimes." She smiled wryly. It would've been a decent note to end on, but she just had to open her mouth again, "...Did you and MJ really kiss?"
"...Yeah." Gwen winced. She was hoping he'd deny it somehow, "It isn't what you think. She was desperate, she nearly killed her dad and she was scared...it could've been anyone." He sighed, "I know it's not much of an excuse, but it's the truth."
"I understand..." It still hurt, but she understood.
The two of them walked in silence to the entrance and stopped in front of his bike, "Well...I should probably-"
That was as far as Peter got before Gwen grabbed his shirt and tugged him into an abrupt and messy kiss. He froze up slightly at the suddenness of it before he immediately reciprocated, hands settling on the small of her back. She was still angry with him, she decided, but she didn't want to end it on a sour note. After all the shit they were dealing with she was going to take every scrap of happiness that she could.
Regretting was better than not having, after all.
The two of them eventually separated and pressed their foreheads together, both panting for air. It was a familiar scene, and the words left her before she could stop herself, "I love you..."
It felt oddly liberating saying it face to face and her lips quirked up in a smile at the red on his cheeks. No matter what memories he had there were some things about Peter Parker that never changed.
"Gwen-"
"Come back with me," she interrupted, "It's been a few days and I want to introduce you to mom properly...I think you guys have a lot to talk about."
He didn't say anything, but the subtle nod was enough. They changed into their costumes (or in Peter's case just a mask) in a nearby alley and, after promising that no one would tow his bike, she swung them back to her house.
Up in the air between the skyscrapers and the flashing lights she almost forgot about her problems. She held on to Peter tighter as she swung in a higher arc, which earned her a grunt from her passenger. She'd always wondered what it would've been like to tell him when she was younger. She imagined he would've had stars in his eyes and begged her to take him web-swinging when she got the chance.
It wasn't how she thought it'd go, but they were both here now and that was good enough for her.
They finally stopped when the buildings and skyscrapers disappeared and walked the rest of the way home sans costumes. The silence returned, but this time it felt almost cozy. Things were still fucked up, but like she'd said before she'd take what happiness she could get.
"Mom?" Gwen opened the door and paused when she caught her mother sitting down at the sofa and staring the Upad. She hadn't looked up to acknowledge them at all, "Uh...mom?"
She finally looked up to meet her gaze and she smiled, which for some reason just made her feel like something was wrong, "Oh, honey, there you are." Her gaze shifted to Peter and her smile widened, "Oh, this is little Peter, right? Not so little anymore, though...time sure flies."
"Uh...yeah." Her eyes narrowed, "Mom...what are you looking at?"
"Hmm? Oh, just looking at this new tweeter thing. People post just about anything, apparently." She laughed softly and offered her the tablet, "Take a look."
Gwen looked at the screen and froze when she saw the contents. She knew Jessica got a lot of attention ever since she helped save people during The Incident, but seeing people make posts and posts about her love life was still a surprise. Gwen just barely noticed the 'Superpowered P.I and Former Police Chief Romance!' someone up top posted in favor of the pictures and discussions down below.
Proof of the things they weren't ready to talk about.
"Oops, right?" Her mom laughed again, though she didn't get far before her smile turned wry, "I knew it was a possibility, but wow...hurts more than I thought."
"M-Mom-"
"Look, honey, you don't have to explain. It's been ten years...I'm glad he moved on." Gwen could see the suppressed tears clear as day, "I...look, it's been a long day, so I'm gonna hit the sack...tell George I'll be using the guest room from now on, okay? Night."
In the end Gwen could only watch her mom trudge her way up the stairs. Her grip on the tablet tightened hard enough to crack the screen and even with Peter putting a hand on her shoulder she couldn't stop herself from screaming in absolute frustration.
For a second it looked like it was gonna end on a slightly upbeat note, but then I remembered who I am; just can't help myself, can I? Ah well, good news is MJ's getting more expert help. Bad news is Gwen's mom found out about the Jessica/George thing in one of the worst ways possible since Gwen dawdled around in actually telling her. She can only blame herself for that.
Next chapter is the family (plus Noir) having a talk about the weird parental situation Gwen has currently found herself in. And maybe something else afterwards, if I can fit it in. Maybe something with Spider-Man and Shadowcat? Guess we'll see.
Anyway, apologies if Gwen's behavior in this chapter came across as overtly clingy or dramatic, but I thought it was a rational response to the idea that her (kinda) boyfriend and one of her best friends were sneaking around behind her back to have some kind of love affair. She does drop it afterwards when she finds out the truth and only asks about the kiss, which is still a pretty sensible thing to be curious about.
Questions:
1. The talk about alternate dimensions is making me think about the team compositions for the fic. For the Avengers it's an easy enough sell since the members are all actual members or close enough to their contemporaries to fit, but what about the Defenders? I based a decent chunk of it on the MCU Defenders - street level vigilantes fighting the Hand - but the members are hit or miss.
Is the team make-up fine with you guys? Cause Noir, Bombshell, Black Cat, Moon Knight, Punisher and freaking Bullseye seem like they're a poor fit for a team that's ultimately supposed to work together, especially since many of them don't know or barely interact with one another in canon. It's also somewhat glaring given that Jessica Jones and Danny Rand exist in the fic and yet they're unlikely to group up.
2. Following on the above, are there any Earth-65 version heroes you guys might want to appear? Within reason, of course, since I can't have the Guardians of the Galaxy showing up. I've already gotten comments from a few others to include Ghost Rider...
3. For a future chapter question, do you guys still want the carnival date chapter between Gwen and Peter to happen or do you think it no longer fits due to how heavy everything is now? And if you guys do want it, then which POV would be best? Because the tone would change dependent on it.
Loktarogar
The Apex of Cuddling
- Location
- Brazil
Oh yeah resolving misunderstandings fast is always a good thing in my book, also Gayle attitude is cute, and Harry and Cindy was unexpected, that just like Gwen I did a double take and read the part again lol, also let me repeat resolving misunderstandings is such a lovely thing(I hate them)
1 - Spiderman, Punisher, Bombshell(main team)/Black Cat, Bullseye, Moon Knight(side team) splitting them like that could work, especially about the Punisher composition as he holds some respect for Peter(helps that he is not a criminal in his eyes) and Bombshell is a kid and kids make The Punisher a little softer, also I really want to see Peter and Frank interactions again(Yes I also watched the Punisher series in the Netflix it was awesome)
The other team I see working with both components trying to milk information about Teresa and Murdock while working with each other
2 - Hmm I dunno how about Deadpool(jk)more seriously really don't know besides Spidey I am kinda neutral about almost everyone...oh how about Tony Stark, could be fun.
3 - I want it! Also, I want to see it through Gwen POV, because her POV is the best in situations like these IMO.
1 - Spiderman, Punisher, Bombshell(main team)/Black Cat, Bullseye, Moon Knight(side team) splitting them like that could work, especially about the Punisher composition as he holds some respect for Peter(helps that he is not a criminal in his eyes) and Bombshell is a kid and kids make The Punisher a little softer, also I really want to see Peter and Frank interactions again(Yes I also watched the Punisher series in the Netflix it was awesome)
The other team I see working with both components trying to milk information about Teresa and Murdock while working with each other
2 - Hmm I dunno how about
3 - I want it! Also, I want to see it through Gwen POV, because her POV is the best in situations like these IMO.
Cute? I wrote to Gayle an annoying prat. Anyway, which misunderstanding were you referring to, the cheating thing? As for Harry and Cindy...well, like the latter said it's not a big deal. They using each other for sex, there's nothing intimate or close about it since unlike with Spider-Man and Shadowcat they don't have many feelgood moments afterwards.
I meant the members of the teams themselves, not the interactions (or lack of it) so far. So far they haven't really done much as a team, but after the Jack arc it more or less becomes a pure Defender story on Noir's side when the Hand war starts. For segmentation the Avengers fits better, since it's separated between 'the kids' (Gwen, Cindy and Hawkeye) and 'the moms' (Captain America, Janet and She-Hulk).
Tony Stark...eh, I'll see what I can do.
So far I have 2-3 votes for Noir's POV and one for Gwen's; guess people want the date to be cynical and boring.
Loktarogar
The Apex of Cuddling
- Location
- Brazil
The Kiss thing and the situation between Gwen dad and Gwen mom, but this is more of a problem of communication of how to start such conversation.
Chapter 98 - Young 'Heroes'
Faster update than the last one, but I figured I'd get a last hurrah in before work started up proper. Not much happens this chapter, and honestly I think the first segment is the weakest, but I figure it's alright for now.
Speaking of the story, the more I look at it the more it seems like Volume 2 is a good idea since some arcs and plot points seem like they make sense only after all 4 main antagonists have been dealt with. Granted that also makes it likely V2 won't have a proper climactic ending and end with a whimper rather than a bang, so it's a morton's fork.
Another thing is that I looked over the old Sin Eater arc and wow...the street crime element in Peter's segment really is just fucking gone, isn't it? Jack is terrorist level at this point, which is hardly street, and Murdock's segment gets into some Ghost Rider level tomfoolery with the demons, rituals, pacts etc etc. Another thing a hypothetical V2 would fix.
Oh, and as for some worries that the Defenders don't get enough focus: I'll focus more on them when the Hand arc starts proper. Besides that individual members get focus throughout the story: Punisher's family was his, Moon Knight's was with Mr. Negative, Felicia gets more focus on MJ's segments, Lana's gotten decent focus throughout the story, and Bullseye plays more a role in the upcoming Jack arc.
The Avengers, on the other hand, focus more on Kate, Gwen and Cindy with the other three left in the background. Them's the breaks.
Side Note - Jessica Jones S2 trailer out I'll see if I can get some inspiration from that too. Hopefully this chapter gets more reviews than the last as well
Chapter 98: Young 'Heroes'
This was a mistake.
Peter sat at a chair on the corner of the living room and watched the proceedings. Gwen called Jones and Captain Stacy over to try and explain, to try and make Helen Stacy understand. Understand what, he wondered. That she'd died? That her husband moved on with someone else and that she'd never get to see her little girl grow up like any decent parent would've wanted?
He didn't even know what he was doing here. He could've left earlier, made up any sort of excuse to take his leave and let them have at it. This was a family matter, and he wasn't family, 'Damn it...' Every time he tried to open his mouth to say something he quickly shut it, unsaid words lingering bitterly. He couldn't say anything, and he doubted Gwen needed comfort from a killer who lied to her about her friend anyway.
The fact that he was still lying to her about Murdock and her mom only added to the bitter taste on his tongue.
Gwen and the Captain Stacy were still trying to explain, but their words were disjointed. Helen Stacy didn't say much and her expression remained passive, though it had nothing on Jones. She looked like she would've preferred to be anywhere but here.
"Mom, it's just..." Gwen trailed off and looked away, lips trembling. It was painful to see. He'd seen Gwen at her worst before, when she was left uncertain of herself and whether her actions were justified, but it never stopped looking alien to him. Back then the strongest image he had of Gwen Stacy was the snobby socialite who wouldn't help someone if her life depended it, but now it was the opposite.
She was a hero, not someone who looked on the verge of tears facing her own mother.
"This is my fault," Captain Stacy cut in, expression severe. His image of the former police chief also changed. The one he remembered was a spindly old man with a warm smile on his face that bordered on fatherly, but this one...well, it was easy to see where Gwen got her stubborn streak and sense of justice from, "I...I should have told you sooner, Helen. Lord knows I've had enough time...I'm sorry."
Jones didn't say a word. He had to admit that despite everything they went through in Frost's mad gallery he didn't know much about her. She cared about her sister and the Stacys, she didn't care much about strangers and she had powers that she seemed to want nothing to do with. All in all it painted a picture of someone who wouldn't have stuck out aside from the fact that she could lift a car and throw it clear across a street.
Then again the same could be said of himself, so in that sense they had a lot in common.
Helen refused to meet their gaze, head angled down while she bit her lower lip. On everyone here she was definitely the one he knew about the least. The kid didn't have much memories of her; to him she was just 'Gwen's mom', not someone a 10 year old would worry about even after she got cancer. He didn't know the pain of losing a parent, not really. Richard and Mary Parker were dead long before he could remember anything worthwhile about them.
And Teresa...well, still nothing worthwhile on that front. Saving him from Murdock at the church was soured pretty heavily by the way she treated Mary.
Seconds of silence passed before Helen Stacy finally raised her head to look her daughter and (former) husband in the eye, "...How long has this been going on? The two of you being...together."
"A few months, Helen..." Captain Stacy replied, "We...it started out as a partnership. I retired from police work and DeWolff suggested that I work with Jessica so I could get some idea of how the P.I business worked. After that..."
It just happened naturally, or at least that's what he got from Gwen. He didn't know much about the finer details, and he got the feeling neither did Gwen given how put off she was apparently walking in on them after they'd done it, but he knew that Jones was pregnant and that the kid was coming one way or another. It was a miracle it survived the hell they'd gone through...
"Yeah, I get it." Helen Stacy took a shaky breath,"Why didn't you tell me?"
"How could we?" Gwen asked back weakly, "You just came back, mom. We didn't want to..." Didn't want to ruin things any more than they already were. Peter could sympathize. Despite making peace (somewhat) with what happened to him he still avoided spending too much time with Ben and May apart from the occasional phone call or dinner. They might've been happy their son was back, but a deeper look would cut through that giddy haze damn quick.
"It would've been better than finding out from that tweeter thing," she tried to suppress it, but the bitterness in her voice was clear as day to him, "God...days I thought that we were still..."
"...I'm sorry." Captain Stacy said again, "Like Gwen said we just didn't want to-"
"When was it going to be a good time, George?" she interrupted, "I've been here for days now. I mean I knew there was a reason you were distant, but I thought you were still reeling from everything like I was. I didn't think it was..." She turned her gaze to Jones and the brunette winced. The P.I hated being the center of attention, "She...what was your name again?"
"Jessica Jones," Jones said, finally speaking up for the first time. He couldn't help but notice that she wasn't wearing the engagement ring from before.
"Right...the superpowered P.I. People are calling you Jewel, I think."
"Jewel? For fuck's sake." Jones let out a frustrated breath and pinched the bridge of her nose. It was a nice relief from the tense atmosphere, at least.
"Hm..." Helen smiled wryly and turned back to Captain Stacy, "How far along are you two? And be honest, please."
"...We're engaged." Helen's mouth twitched but the smile remained. Impressive considering how severe this all must have been, "You don't need to hear all the details, but we got together and then one thing led to another and..." He took a deep breath before continuing, "She's pregnant, Helen...we're engaged." And he proposed right before she rose from her damn grave. Murdock said it was a coincidence, but he had his doubts on that.
"I see..." The two words were said in a dull monotone. Her hands shook and she sucked in a quick breath before her smile suddenly widened, "I...I'm happy for you both, really."
Liar.
"Mom-"
"No, Gwen, I get it, I do." Helen interrupted, "It's been 10 years...I didn't want George to mourn me forever." That was the truth, at least, "Seeing all this...you being a Superhero and George happy again...it's a relief knowing that you both pulled together so well." A half lie this time...sometimes he wished he could turn his spider-sense off, "I'm still just shocked, that's all."
"We didn't mean for it to get like this," Gwen muttered, "God, I feel like an asshole for saying it like that, but you're right. We should've told you, but we were scared. We thought you'd..."
"Freak out? Come on, honey, I thought you knew me better than that." It was clear as day that Gwen didn't believe her, but she kept her mouth shut and let her mom continue, "Look, this is...great- okay, no, it kinda sucks, but trust me I can deal." She took a deep breath and stood up, "...I need some air."
"I'll go with-"
"Alone, Gwen."
Despite the smile on Helen's face her words left no argument. Gwen clamped her mouth shut and tucked herself deeper into the couch as her mom walked out. He didn't need enhanced senses to know that she wanted to charge after her. If there was one thing he knew about Gwen Stacy it was that she didn't take things lying down; it made it difficult to stay away for two months during their most painful argument.
An uncomfortable silence settled over the room, broken only by the sounds of creaking wood. Peter looked down at his pressed palms with a scowl and muttered a curse. He wasn't any help here with them.
"...I'm going."
He'd barely stood up before Gwen grabbed his hand, "Don't leave..."
"I'll be back." He squeezed her hand gently before making his way out of the door. The suburbs weren't a very big place, and as tempting as it was to visit Ben and May and drag them into this problem too it was the last thing he actually needed, "Can't have gotten far..." He stuffed his hands into his pockets and walked. She didn't leave with her wallet so he doubted she left the neighborhood.
He found her after a couple of minutes. Peter stopped and frowned when he caught sight of Helen Stacy sitting on the curb with her legs tucked into her chest, arms wrapped around the denim material of her jeans in a tight grip. Even from where he stood he heard the shocked sobs that she tried in vain to restrain. He honestly thought it was a miracle that she'd gotten so far before breaking down.
Peter didn't say a word. After only a moment's hesitation he sat a short distance away from her, pulled out a single cigarette and lit it with a deft flick of the lighter. If she even noticed that he was there then she didn't say a word, choosing to continue her (relatively) restrained breakdown.
A minute of sobs and sniffles came and went before she eventually looked up, her eyes bloodshot and puffy. Peter tried his best not to let anything show and offered her the slightly crumpled packet, "Want one?"
"I don't smoke..." Despite her words she pulled out one of the coffin nails with a shaky hand, which Peter immediately lit. The older woman looked down at the burning stick for a moment before she took a tentative inhale, "Damn," She coughed out the smoke and looked a hair's breath away from throwing it altogether before she took another puff, "God, how does George do this?"
"Captain Stacy smokes?"
"Well, he did. It got worse when I was...you know." She waved the cigarette through the air casually, "He told me a few days ago that he went cold turkey afterwards. Said he didn't want Gwen to think it was okay."
"Something tells me that wouldn't have been a problem." He'd learned to avoid smoking when Gwen was in the room. Even if he was pretty sure lung cancer wasn't a risk she didn't want to take that chance.
"Hmm...aren't you a bit young to be doing this?"
"Between all the killing, theft, blackmail and drinking it's getting annoying that this is the one thing where people draw the line." Back then it wasn't even obvious that it was bad for you; most parents would've been proud to see their kids with their first coffin nail. A sign of growing up, or so they said.
"This stuff'll kill you, you know."
"I don't think either of us have to worry about that." Considering what the deal with them was Murdock would be the death of them both rather than a stick of nicotine.
She went quiet at that, and for a second Peter thought about apologizing before she let out a single, wry laugh, "Guess you're right." She wiped away a few more stray tears and exhaled through her nose, "Gwen tells me that you came back, too."
"Yeah, difference is that my memories aren't exactly...stable." And he wasn't brought back by the devil. Wary as he was about the Spider-God he still considered it the infinitely lesser evil compared to whatever Murdock had on him.
It would have been easier if she was another psychopath like Firestarter or a willing pawn like that bastard Otomo, but she wasn't. Helen Stacy was innocent, and that only made it all the more infuriating to know that Murdock could end her life with a flick of his hand. A part of him was almost tempted to tell her and Gwen, but he held off. What would it do? Their relationship was troubled enough; adding that would just destroy it.
"Yeah, she told me about that too. It sounds like quite the story..." She sat up straighter and loosened her grip on her legs, "I still remember when you and Gwen held up that plastic Captain America shield. Feels like it was yesterday."
"Time flies."
"That it does. I thought I'd have a few more years before I had to talk to my daughter's boyfriend." She smiled at that. Peter refrained from telling her that they weren't actually dating (yet...), "Do you remember anything? From the whole dying part?"
"No." Teresa told him Heaven and Hell existed, but if so he had no clue why couldn't remember the sea of fire and eternal damnation, "You?"
"Nothing but blackness...I don't want to go back to it." She took another shaky inhale from the cigarette, "This...This is fucked up."
"Which part?"
"The part where my daughter grew up and I wasn't there to see it; the part where my husband moved on and has another child on the way; the part where I've been frozen since the day I died and every time I wake up I still expect to see my girl to be ten and for my husband not to have any gray hairs." She let the cigarette drop and shut her eyes to keep the tears from spilling out, "You know all about that, don't you?"
"Not exactly." They weren't the same even despite all their similarities, "...What do you want?"
"Apart from going back in time?" She laughed bitterly, "I want...I wanted to be there and see my daughter grow up, t-to be there for my husband when he had to raise Gwen alone and he put his life at risk every day putting that badge on." She sniffled, "...I wasn't lying back there, when I said I was glad that they pulled together. I wasn't. I just wish that..."
"That you were there with them."
She didn't have to nod; he already knew the answer. Peter took a deep inhale of the cigarette and looked down at the asphalt. Gwen told him that he sucked at comforting, and he was inclined to agree. The kid was a whiny little bastard who thought that he was the only one with problems while Spider-Man...well, the closest thing to comfort he ever had to do was screaming at victims to run before the criminals caught up. He definitely wasn't the person to call when you needed to sympathize with a grieving mother and wife.
Her sniffles and sobs eventually died out and she took another shaky breath, "Alright, I'm...I'm done. Sorry about about that."
"Wasn't looking for an apology." God only knew how many times he'd snapped the past couple of weeks alone, "So...what are your plans now?"
"Now? Ha, fuck if I know." She shrugged, trying to be casual despite the hurt in her voice. He definitely saw where Gwen got a lot of her attitude from, "I mean...I can't live there now, can I? Whoever heard of an ex-wife living in the same house as her ex-husband and his new wife?"
"So you're just moving out?" He heard faint footsteps, but he paid them no mind. It wasn't like they were the only people in this neighborhood, "Do you think that's what Gwen and Captain Stacy want? They just got you back after a decade...and I don't think that's what you want either." Not that he was one to talk. If anyone could win a prize for avoiding problems it was him.
"What other choice do I have? I can't just stay with them now, not after this-"
"Why not?"
Both their heads snapped to the new voice and Peter was only half-surprised to find Jones standing there, hands in her jacket and her expression passive. Helen winced openly and made to stand before Peter spoke up, "Hear her out..."
"But-"
"Look, I just wanna say my piece," Jessica interrupted, both hands held up, "I don't think you wanna listen to me, and shit I don't blame you, but I really don't want to end it like this."
Helen took a deep breath and sat back down again, "Okay...I'm listening."
"Alright, so your plan to move out? Not happening." Helen was about to interrupt before Jessica continued, "Let me finish. You wanna move out later? Fine. But right after this shit? Not a good idea. You just came back, and something tells me that you don't wanna do the same thing Parker here is with his side-gig."
"That's one way to call it..." Peter muttered.
"So I'm supposed to just live in that house while you two are being the happy married couple?" Helen asked back bitterly.
"I don't live there, and something tells me I'm not going to for a while even after this little tagalong finally gets out." She crossed her arms, "...It's a long story, but let's just say that I'm not one for the picket fence lifestyle. George knew that, which is why I'm surprised he was willing to try...whatever this is."
"...Do you love him?"
"Of course I do." Jones pursed her lips and looked away. Peter suddenly felt like he should've left them alone, "I'm a mess, both George and I know that, but he still wants to try and so do I." She sighed, "But that doesn't mean you have to just...cut off and pretend we can just leave this fucked up shit hanging."
"So what do you suggest? Cause right now I'm not seeing a solution here."
"You think I do? All I'm saying is what you shouldn't do, nothing else." Jones smiled wryly, "If there's one thing I do know, though, it's that Gwen needs her mom the same way that she needs Parker. I'm not saying we have to be friends, in fact I'm pretty damn sure that you hate me, but both Gwen and George deserve better than the both of us playing soap opera."
"...I don't hate you, for what it's worth. This hurts, but it would've been worse if George had no one when Gwen finally grew up." Helen sighed in turn and made a sound at the back of her throat, "Look...can we talk? No bullshit, just...lay it all out there."
"Yeah, sure..." Jones said, "Give us a minute would you, Parker?" She nudged her head back in the direction of the Stacy house, "Stacy was looking for you too, by the way. Probably worried you ran off."
With good reason considering his track record. He shared one last look with Helen Stacy before he stood and made his way back to the Stacy house. He needed to deal with Murdock, and soon.
"The results are...interesting, Ms. Watson."
Mary Jane cringed and sat up on the bed, the patient gown shifting loosely in response to the movement. She had to admit the fact that she was currently stuck in the observation module (read: see-through cube with nothing but a bed) was a bit unnerving, but considering what she knew about the Wasp it was probably one of the better options. She didn't fancy being shrunk down and put in a petri dish, after all.
That and this place had wi-fi and Ms. Van Dyne was kind enough to give her a laptop while she did her tests, which was nice.
"What do you mean interesting?" she asked. In her experience that usually meant bad news, like the time she called Gayle's foray into BDSM fiction 'fascinating'...
"I think it'd be better if I showed you."
She tapped a button on the remote and the door slid open with a hiss. Mary Jane swung her legs down and shivered when her bare feet made contact with the cold floor, "Show me what?" she stepped out of the cube and rubbed her left wrist. The tests were actually pretty mild - just a few tissue samples and injections - but she couldn't help but feel like something was going to go wrong at some point.
A feeling that only grew worse when Wasp gestured for her to come closer to the large screen that took up one side of the room, "Do you know much about biology, Ms. Watson?"
"Not really, always got C's in those."
"Making jokes? Good, cause you're gonna need to keep your chin up." The smile on the older woman's face was strained, which was hardly a good sign, "You told me before that you wanted the symbiote severed from you."
"Yeah..." She couldn't deny that there was a definite temptation to keep the powers, but it just wasn't worth it. Not after the absolute hell the past week was, "...No luck?"
"Not exactly." She typed something on the keyboard and the screen lit up. Mary Jane looked up in confusion at the various charts and paragraphs of data that littered the surface, "It would take days to go through all the details, so let's get down to the meat of it."
"I'm...guessing that this means you can't remove this thing?"
She tapped something else on the keyboard in lieu of answering and two more images popped up on screen. Strands of DNA, but they were different. The one on the left looked normal, like something out of her high school textbook, but the one on the right...
"Is that...mine?" she gulped nervously and looked up at the malformed...thing on the screen. Her rudimentary biology knowledge told her that DNA should've looked like a ladder - a double Helix, Mrs. Turner said - but the one on the screen was anything but. If she looked close she could see what looked like a ladder, but the rungs were twisted and misshapen and far from stable looking.
"Yes." Ms. Van Dyne nodded severely, "Similar to Gwen your body has been altered at a molecular level by the symbiote. I'm afraid that removing S.H.I.E.L.D's little pet project for you would have severe consequences."
"Just how severe are we talking here, doc?"
"Best case scenario? The equivalent of living without your eyes or being turned quadriplegic."
Mary Jane winced. That was the best they could hope for? "And...the worst?"
"Death." Well...she saw that coming. Mary Jane took a deep breath to try and calm herself and hugged herself tightly, "I'm...sorry, I really am, but this...there's nothing that can be done, at least not within the timeframe we have so far. S.H.I.E.L.D would have more data since they created it, but I think we've all made clear that we'd rather keep them out of this."
"Yeah..."
"It's not all bad news, however." She pulled out a syringe filled with dark yellow fluid from the nearby table, "This is a stronger suppressant I made using the old one as a base. You were becoming more and more resistant to the old one, if you weren't aware." Teresa mentioned something about that before... "Gwen's symbiote was made from a mix of the serum and radioactive isotopes, but not yours-"
"It's not mine," she interrupted with a growl.
"Kasady's then," she continued, "But as I was saying, Kasady's symbiote is lacking in the radioactive isotopes, hence why you're gaining a resistance to it. From what I could gather S.H.I.E.L.D mixed the serum with the Hyde Formula used by a certain Calvin Zabo a few years ago. It would definitely explain why it lashed out so badly - the radioactive isotopes would've acted as a stabilizing agent, but the Hyde Formula, as its namesake indicates, increases violent impulses and impairs judgement. Mix that with the Lizard serum and..."
"You get the Carnage killer." Captain America said it was that Kasady asshole's fault, but this thing - monster - followed along like a damn puppy.
"Precisely." Her face shifted in frustration for a brief moment before she calmed down, "The suppressant I created should stabilize you, but it also has a cost."
"Of course it does." Mary Jane sighed. What else was new? "Hit me, doc."
"As should be obvious the formula is untested, meaning that there might be side-effects." Mary Jane nodded. She expected that, "Dosages will have to be daily, every day or two at the very least, and..." She paused and took a deep breath, "I want you to understand that the components of the suppressant are severe. On the off-chance that I find a way to separate the symbiote from you it's very likely that you'll have to take it for the rest of your life."
"Great, always wanted to see what being a junkie was like." Mary pinched the bridge of her nose and pursed her lips to keep herself from screaming in frustration at the unfairness of it all, "...Is there any good news?"
"Besides the increased mental stability? A few." She turned the screen off, "I made some observations on both you and Gwen. Your strength, agility, durability and various other physical attributes are far improved from what they were before, but you might be interested to know that the rate of aging and degradation in your DNA has been massively slowed due to the symbiote's bond. What this means is that your and Gwen's lifespan has increased exponentially, and it's quite possible that you both will be functionally unaging similar to Agent Romanoff, Wilson and Director Carter."
"So I'm a druggie for a long life, great..." She should've been more ecsatic, but honestly the entire thing just sounded more and more like consolation prizes. Strength and possible immortality in exchange for a murderous monster that constantly screamed into her head? No fucking thanks, "Could we just get this over with, please? I wanna put it all behind me..."
"Of course, I understand. Go back to the observation module and let me see how the new suppressant interacts with your body. With any luck you should be stabilized and able to go home before the day's done."
Going home before the day was done was a pipe dream, but Wasp did finish up her testing an hour after midnight and another hour after that MJ was out on the streets again with a nicely packed sandwich and a fresh change of (way too fancy for her tastes) clothes. The redhead took a deep breath of the early morning air and raised the sandwich to her mouth with one hand, the other holding onto the backpack that contained her 'costume'.
That was it, she was...well, not cured, especially not after the whole 'willing drug addiction' thing, but she felt better than she had in days. She pulled her phone out of her pocket when she saw the chain of messages from Glory asking if she was okay. Did she blame herself for what happened, Mary Jane wondered. It was the argument that drove her out of the apartment that night, after all.
She was about to respond before she saw the person in front of her - a young man who didn't look a day over 16 - get yanked into the alley with a muffled scream. Mary Jane's eyes widened and her grip on the phone tightened. A mugging? Kidnapping? The streets were almost abandoned so she wasn't surprised whoever it was did it right now.
Could she call the police? No, that'd take way too long; guy would be long gone by the time they got here. What else could she-
...
Her gaze shifted to the backpack on her right hand and she grimaced, 'God damn it.' Was she really going to do this? It wasn't like it was the first mugging she'd seen. She lived in New York City all her life, so she knew the proper procedure was to duck your head, walk away and maybe call the cops if you could.
...Fuck.
No time for a full costume change. She grabbed the mask and gloves from the bag and put them on in a rush, shucking off the designer jacket in favor of the ratty blue hoodie as she did. She couldn't do even half of the things that monster was capable of, but she was still stronger and faster than before, right? It wouldn't be so bad. Just a couple of punches and she could pretend this didn't happen.
She dialed 911 and gave them an address before she ran into the alley, 'Shit...' Mary Jane stopped when she saw the three burly guys surrounding the teenager.
"We know you fucking snitched on us, Reyes!" The one at front snarled, his buzzcut and tattoos basically screaming 'I'm a thug for hire', "You know what we do to snitches, you little shit!"
"Dennis, I-I promise I didn't! I swear!"
It was now or never. Mary Jane stood up straighter, balled her hands into fists and screamed, "Let him go!"
All three thugs turned to look at her, and their faces went from scowls to blank-eyed surprise to bemused laughter, "Holy shit, another one?" The leader - Dennis - looked back at his cohorts and let out another belt of laughter, "Goddamn, what is with this town and gimps?"
"I said let him go!"
"Better idea, chica; why don't you tell us your name, huh? Me and the guys could use a good laugh."
Mary Jane rushed ahead faster than the guy could react and pushed him away from the younger teen hard enough to make him skid across the alley, "The name's Scarlet Spider." That...didn't sound as she cool as she thought it did. She pulled the kid back and shoved him towards the other end of the alley. With any luck he'd be smart enough to run for cover.
"Get that fucking bitch!" Dennis screamed.
Mary Jane wanted to say she took them out with her hands behind her back, but that was far from the truth. The first one rushed towards her with a knife raised and Mary Jane stumbled back, nearly tripping over herself in her attempt to dodge the attack. The dull blade sliced through the shoulder of her hoodie before she kicked at his leg in a panic.
The sickening crack was loud enough to echo throughout the alley. The second thug winced as his friend fell down and cradled his broken leg, which she used as a chance to tackle him clumsily against the opposite wall shoulder first. She heard another scream of pain and she let him fall onto the ground in a heap. Messy, but they weren't dead, at least. The prison clinic could patch them up...right?
Her thoughts on their well-being were cut off when she heard a click Dennis' direction. Her head snapped to the source and she froze when she saw him standing up shakily and aiming a pistol right at her. She could've run over there and knocked it out of his hands, maybe even taken the bullet, but she remained rooted to the spot. Powers or no she wasn't a damn vigilante like Gwen and Peter were.
The bastard's mouth parted in a wide grin just before a length of leather tangled itself around his wrist. His eyes widened for a split second before the hand was forced up and the gun discharged harmlessly in the air, "Wha-" He looked up just in time to catch a wave of platinum blond hair before they both heard a soft click.
Just a week ago the sight of some poor bastard (emphasis on that second part) being electrocuted would have caused her to look away, but now she looked on, hypnotized, and curled her lips up in a grin.
It was...hot.
The electrocution lasted for only a few seconds before the thug fell down to the ground, twitching and spasming all the way. The dark blur from above landed behind her and kicked the two prone attackers on the ground, "That should keep them out till the police get here." Mary Jane turned back and laughed under her breath when she saw Felicia dressed in full costume. It was honestly a relief to see her again after a day of sterile walls and computers.
"...Hey," she greeted, for lack of anything better to say.
"Hey yourself, 'Scarlet Spider'." She smirked at that, "Come on, the police are going to be here soon."
Soon was right. They'd barely made it to the closest rooftop before the police car came blazing down the street, sirens blaring, "We gotta go." Felicia tugged on her arm and Mary Jane followed. It wasn't the first time she ran from the cops - she'd been in her fair share of rowdy and not-legal parties, after all - but this was an adrenaline rush unlike any other. She just commited an act of vigilantism; a few counts of underage drinking and noise disturbance were so petty by comparison. This must've been how Gwen felt like all those years ago, before that night at prom.
It helped that she didn't kill anyone, so Mary Jane didn't feel disgusted with herself just yet...
She didn't know how long they ran, but by the time they stopped at a relatively tall building Felicia was visibly out of breath and Mary Jane...wasn't. Just another reminder of how much she'd changed, "Well...that was something." Felicia bent over and put her hands on her knees to balance herself. Mary Jane didn't look at the droplets of sweat that fell down on her exposed chest, definitely not.
"Yeah, it was..." Mary Jane pulled off the mask from her face and brushed away the sweat matted hair, wincing at the soreness at her feet. The boots she was loaned really weren't made for running in, "...How'd you find me?"
"Would you believe it was just a coincidence?"
"Sure, the second you tell me that you're not actually a thief with a weird vendetta against a blind lawyer."
"When someone kills your father you tend to hold a grudge," she responded casually, ignoring Mary Jane's look of utter shock, "Why so surprised, Jane? Surely you didn't think I hated that diable just because he gave me a bad review?"
"I mean...I guess not, but I didn't think it was..."
"It's passed, Scarlet. No need for sympathies." She clapped her on the shoulder gently, "As for how I found you, Spider put a tracker on your phone that he 'borrowed' from Moon Knight. After the incident with his sister he didn't want to take any chances."
"I get that." She didn't like the fact that he didn't tell her, but she still got it, "But why you?"
"He asked me to look out for you since he and Stacy are apparently in some family drama." She waved a hand through the air and smiled, "I got a warning when you suddenly started moving...didn't expect you to try your hand at the vigilante business. Still, it's hardly the worst thing I've had to deal with this week. You're just lucky I recognized you in that godawful outfit of yours."
"Yeah, well, I don't exactly have fancy Dyne particle suits like Gwen does." Mary Jane rolled her eyes. There was the Felicia she knew and loathed, "But...thanks, for saving my ass, I mean."
"Save? Hardly." She snorted, "If you're anything like Spider-Woman then that bullet would've been a mosquito bite."
"I still appreciate it."
She seemed surprised at that, if only briefly, "Well...then, you're welcome." She flipped her hair haughtily and gestured to the bright lights of the city that greeted them, "What do you say, Scarlet? Did you get a taste of the vigilante craze that's been going around? I'm curious."
"Kinda..." She couldn't deny there was a rush there (and something else she didn't want to think about...), but she still froze when at the first gun pointed at her. It was a normal reaction, but it didn't exactly bode well for someone who wanted to try their hand at the 'Spider-Woman thing', as people called it, "...Hey, can I ask your something?"
"Why is it people always ask that when they don't want to hear no? If you want to ask something then just ask."
"Right...well, I know this sounds weird, but how do you deal with all that? The fear, I mean." She released an exhausted breath, "When that monster was in control I didn't feel afraid, but when I was by myself...the first thing I thought of when I saw that gun was how big of a mistake I made."
"You think I'm not afraid to die," Felicia said.
"Aren't you? You don't have any powers and yet here you are swinging through buildings with that whip of yours when even one mistake means being a pancake on the pavement."
"Let's just say I had a good teacher. I learned at a young age." She smiled wistfully. It looked...odd on her. Odd, but not unpleasant, "I'm well aware that I didn't win the genetic lottery like Spider-Woman and She-Hulk, that even a single mistake could be fatal. Still, if I let that stop me I'd never get anything done. You could get run over walking down the street, but people still do it."
"Crossing the street isn't exactly the same as swinging from buildings."
"Isn't it? Both carry risks, people just view it differently. It's all on how you perceive it. People are more afraid of crashing planes than they are about car crashes even if the former's far less likely to happen than the latter. I'm careful about how I do it, but I don't fear it. The same way I don't feel afraid of crossing the street or slipping on a bar of soap and breaking my neck. I know my limitations."
"Yeah, but...how?"
"Lots of practice."
Felicia winked at her before immediately letting herself fall off the building. Mary Jane's eyes widened and she shelved her hesitation to immediately jump after her. Felicia looked up (down?) at her, lips still raised in a teasing smile. Mary Jane wanted to slap it out of her face.
They were halfway to the ground by the time Mary Jane caught up to her. Without missing a beat the cat burglar (and a whole host of other names Mary Jane wanted to call her) suddenly flipped herself upright and pulled Mary Jane close to herself with her left hand while her right attached the stretchy whip to a nearby ledge. Mary Jane almost heaved at the sudden stop before they bounced up and down slowly.
"See?"
"See what? That you're fucking insane?" Mary Jane looked her in the eye and blinked at how close they were. This definitely wasn't how she expected the night to go, "What the hell was that supposed to prove?" She tried to put some distance between them, but considering they were hanging by an almost literal thread her options were rather limited.
"Everyone just needs a little push. For someone who froze at getting a gun pointed at her you sure didn't hesitate to jump after me and risk turning into an, as you say, 'pancake'." Felicia gave her a teasing smirk and she suddenly felt an uncomfortable heat on her cheeks, "So don't beat yourself up for not being 'brave' enough. If you ask me it seems like you've kept your sanity despite everything."
It was the wrong place and time for it, but being so close to Felicia Goddamned Hardy - with all her stunts and her suicidal attitude - was driving her insane.
At least that's what Mary Jane would tell anyone who asked why she suddenly kissed her.
Felicia was surprised by the gesture, but as expected she quickly reversed it and deepened the kiss, using their odd position to ensure that she had the upper hand. Despite the strain of holding them both up with one hand she didn't seem to have a problem at all and her other hand tugged at Mary Jane's hair roughly, forcing the younger woman to look up at her.
"...I guess I spoke too soon."
"Guess you did." This time it was Mary Jane who smirked, "...You actually have a plan to get us down from here?"
"I always have a plan, Scarlet."
She untangled the whip and they fell again. This time Mary Jane didn't feel any fear and just watched Felicia attach the whip to another ledge and swing them down into the dark alleyway without much fanfare.
"...Maybe I should ask Ms. Van Dyne if I could borrow some webshooters."
"Spider's been fine without it so far." Felicia replied, "Come on."
"Where to?"
"My place isn't too far from here. We can't pick up where we left off."
Well...okay then.
Spider-Man opened his eyes and hissed at the light scratches on his shoulders. Kat was getting better, but she still couldn't stop herself from going off at the last minute.
Thank Spider-God he healed fast.
He swung his legs over the edge of the bed and rubbed his eyes. Clock said it was a few minutes past 4 am, so he didn't see the point of getting much sleep, "Kat, wake up." He turned around and tapped her bare shoulder, which earned him an annoyed growl. She was always a grouchy sleeper, "Hey, you were the one who wanted to get up early, remember?"
"Fuck off..." She tucked herself deeper into the blankets and groaned.
"Fine." He rolled his eyes and stood up, trudging towards the messy pile of clothes scattered around the corner. He'd learned to get them off quick; Kat was impatient when she got into one of her moods, "Come on, where is it...?" He rummaged through the pile in search of his underwear. Laundry day was still a couple of days away and he didn't fancy deviating from their established routine now.
The fact that they had a routine at all was a surprise, but he wasn't going to complain.
No underwear, but he saw something else that caught his eye. A half-open wallet with its contents exposed for all the world to see. It wasn't his, so that meant... "Hm," He picked it up after a moment of hesitation and looked over the contents. He recognized Kat and 'the old man' easily enough, but the other three were a mystery to him. A tan man covered in tattoos with a mohawk, a broad shouldered man with a mane of blonde hair and finally a teenager with a darker shade of blonde from the last one.
He was so busy poring over the pictures that he hadn't even noticed the soft footsteps before it was too late.
Spider-Man stiffened when a slender arm wrapped itself around his shoulders, "Drop it," she whispered, voice sickly sweet. He was about to say something back before he felt her fingers dance across his third leg...which would have been much more arousing if she hadn't been brandishing her claws as she did, "Before you lose something you're going to regret."
"You don't have to be so dramatic, Kat." Without missing a beat he tossed the wallet over his shoulder and let her catch it, resuming his search for his underclothes. Anyone else would've been disturbed, but he'd learned to deal with her...quirks.
"Just didn't expect you to snoop into my stuff, partner." She pulled out a loose shirt and a pair of shorts from the pile and put them on lazily.
"I was just curious. You don't seem like a people kind of person."
"I'm not." She opened and closed the wallet a couple of times before they continued, "The guy with the mohawk is Daken, one of the old man's bastard kids. Old guy's Victor Creed, but I used to call him Uncle Victor."
"A brother and an uncle? Surprised you never mentioned them before."
"Why would I? They're dead."
"...Can I ask why?"
"Because Logan and I killed them," she said without a hint of hesitation or shame.
Spider-Man knew better than to be surprised, but he still asked, "Then why do you have their pictures in your wallet?"
"Why not?" she asked back, "Just cause Daken's a rapist with daddy issues and Victor's more rabid than a dog with rabies doesn't mean they're not family. When I got this thing the shopkeeper said you put things like family or a boyfriend in here, so I just left them in."
"Makes sense, I guess." He didn't want to argue her logic of keeping pictures of the people she killed, "So who's the kid? Your boyfriend?"
"Aww, are you getting jealous?" she teased, looking up at him with a smirk.
"Yeah, it's gonna keep me up at night if I don't know." He rolled his eyes. She definitely enjoyed her fair share of heckling.
"Don't worry, partner, he's just another 'brother' of mine. Logan got real drunk on the Canadian border once and little Jimmy here's the result." Her smile was almost fond, though he could have been imagining things, "I kept an eye on him once, to see if he'd turn into one of us, but he's clean. No claws, no healing factor...guess he got lucky. I'm glad at least one of us isn't a dog, at least."
"You're not a dog. You're crazy, violent and probably psychotic, but that just means you're human."
"You always know just what to say to cheer me up." She slapped the left side of his face mockingly and laughed under her breath.
"Yeah, yeah..." He pushed her hand off and finished putting on his clothes, "I gotta get breakfast started."
"Wow, cheering me up and cooking me breakfast? If this is how you treat your fuck buddies I wonder how you treat your girlfriend."
"Wouldn't know. Never had one." Thoughts of Felicia came and went before he stamped it down. A dumb crush, nothing more, "And who said I was cooking for you, anyway?"
"Says me, the girl who's paying all the bills since you stopped coming with me on bounty jobs. Gotta earn your upkeep somehow; this relationship's give and take, Petey."
"I told you to stop calling me that..."
Breakfast was...calm. It might've been odd to say considering he was sitting across an unrepentant killer and mercenary for hire, but there it was. It was another part of their routine. Shadowcat got up early to get a headstart on their jobs and when she got back he cleaned up and cooked dinner for them both. He felt like a maid, but it was better than working as a gun for hire now that he got what he wanted.
"You heard from Logan?" he asked. He only met him a couple of times in his time here, and both times were a few minutes at most. Evidently Kat didn't like him staying around too long.
"He's in Idaho last I checked. Dunno what he's doing." She shrugged and shoveled a whole egg into her mouth, "You know, if there's one thing I'm gonna miss when you're gone it's getting an actual home cooked meal. Canned food sucks; the preservatives ruin everything."
"Good to know that I'm valued, at least."
She was about to respond with a no doubt snarky reply before her phone buzzed. Kat looked down at the message and her body immediately stiffened, the smile on her face being replaced by what could only be described as a cross between excitement and anger...which was an odd combination, but par for the course when it came to her.
"Ha...change of plans." She pushed the plate away and sucked in a breath through her teeth, "I'm gonna leave town."
"What? For how long?"
"I dunno, a few days. Week tops." She stood up and made her way back to the bedroom while Spider-Man followed, "I just got some big news. It can't wait."
"What's going on?"
She grabbed the suitcase from the top of the closet and paused, "You know about Weapon X, right?" He nodded. Her stories made it hard to forget, "Well, apparently Carter found one of their bases; probably one of the last ones that exist, really. One of the deals I made with S.H.I.E.L.D was that if they find any more sites they let me take a first crack at it. They weren't happy - operational risk and all - but I do good work."
"And you're leaving?"
"That's what I said." She packed a pile of clothes into the suitcase messily, "There's enough food on the fridge to last the week and I paid the cable bill, so I doubt you'll be bored without my enjoyable company." She winked, "Just make sure not to burn the place down or I really will cut your dick off."
"Better idea: I'm coming with you."
She paused her packing and looked at him blankly, "...Why?"
"Cause you're one of the few lifelines I have in this place and I wanna make sure you don't die while I'm not looking." And to be honest he didn't like the idea of being trapped in this madhouse of a city alone, "Like I said before, someone has to make sure you don't get killed."
"I've managed well so far...but fine, it's your funeral." She shrugged, "Could use someone to talk to in the car anyway. Just make sure you don't die, hm? I am still babysitting you, after all."
"Trust me, Kat, I've come too far to die here..."
Helen Stacy's on the road to recovery (kinda), Mary Jane is still going insane and of course Spider-Man and Shadowcat are going after Weapon X. None of these are really connected so far, so hopefully it's all good.
Anyway, I don't think there's a single partnership in this story that's not unhealthy and dysfunctional in some way: Peter and Gwen are ignoring their issues and have a whole lot of other reasons I mentioned; Cindy and Harry are hatefucking for lack of better options; Felicia is unintentionally exacerbating Mary Jane's descent into sadism; and of course Spider-Man and Shadowcat are two violent assholes who joke around (the latter moreso) about their various problems.
...And yet the last of the two seem the most content, so puzzle that one out.
Oh, and Gabriel makes a cameo appearance...being victimized yet again for snitching and needing to be saved by a hero. This guy's like the reverse Turk Barret: saving him is like an initiation ritual to get into the Earth-65 vigilante gig proper. Pretty soon Frog-Man's gonna save his ass.
Question:
1. Just the one question: which character story do we focus on? I can stay in New York and have them deal with what problems they have there or we can take a vacation and watch Spider-Man and Shadowcat put down one of the last Weapon X facilities. The former is just more of the same so far (though it'll lead closer to the Carnival date people want to see) while the latter gives Shadowcat more development and changes things up somewhat for the relationship the two have.
That's assuming you guys don't want to see Weapon X and just prefer we have it happen off-screen like Mysterio.
Speaking of the story, the more I look at it the more it seems like Volume 2 is a good idea since some arcs and plot points seem like they make sense only after all 4 main antagonists have been dealt with. Granted that also makes it likely V2 won't have a proper climactic ending and end with a whimper rather than a bang, so it's a morton's fork.
Another thing is that I looked over the old Sin Eater arc and wow...the street crime element in Peter's segment really is just fucking gone, isn't it? Jack is terrorist level at this point, which is hardly street, and Murdock's segment gets into some Ghost Rider level tomfoolery with the demons, rituals, pacts etc etc. Another thing a hypothetical V2 would fix.
Oh, and as for some worries that the Defenders don't get enough focus: I'll focus more on them when the Hand arc starts proper. Besides that individual members get focus throughout the story: Punisher's family was his, Moon Knight's was with Mr. Negative, Felicia gets more focus on MJ's segments, Lana's gotten decent focus throughout the story, and Bullseye plays more a role in the upcoming Jack arc.
The Avengers, on the other hand, focus more on Kate, Gwen and Cindy with the other three left in the background. Them's the breaks.
Side Note - Jessica Jones S2 trailer out
I'll see if I can get some inspiration from that too. Hopefully this chapter gets more reviews than the last as well 
Chapter 98: Young 'Heroes'
This was a mistake.
Peter sat at a chair on the corner of the living room and watched the proceedings. Gwen called Jones and Captain Stacy over to try and explain, to try and make Helen Stacy understand. Understand what, he wondered. That she'd died? That her husband moved on with someone else and that she'd never get to see her little girl grow up like any decent parent would've wanted?
He didn't even know what he was doing here. He could've left earlier, made up any sort of excuse to take his leave and let them have at it. This was a family matter, and he wasn't family, 'Damn it...' Every time he tried to open his mouth to say something he quickly shut it, unsaid words lingering bitterly. He couldn't say anything, and he doubted Gwen needed comfort from a killer who lied to her about her friend anyway.
The fact that he was still lying to her about Murdock and her mom only added to the bitter taste on his tongue.
Gwen and the Captain Stacy were still trying to explain, but their words were disjointed. Helen Stacy didn't say much and her expression remained passive, though it had nothing on Jones. She looked like she would've preferred to be anywhere but here.
"Mom, it's just..." Gwen trailed off and looked away, lips trembling. It was painful to see. He'd seen Gwen at her worst before, when she was left uncertain of herself and whether her actions were justified, but it never stopped looking alien to him. Back then the strongest image he had of Gwen Stacy was the snobby socialite who wouldn't help someone if her life depended it, but now it was the opposite.
She was a hero, not someone who looked on the verge of tears facing her own mother.
"This is my fault," Captain Stacy cut in, expression severe. His image of the former police chief also changed. The one he remembered was a spindly old man with a warm smile on his face that bordered on fatherly, but this one...well, it was easy to see where Gwen got her stubborn streak and sense of justice from, "I...I should have told you sooner, Helen. Lord knows I've had enough time...I'm sorry."
Jones didn't say a word. He had to admit that despite everything they went through in Frost's mad gallery he didn't know much about her. She cared about her sister and the Stacys, she didn't care much about strangers and she had powers that she seemed to want nothing to do with. All in all it painted a picture of someone who wouldn't have stuck out aside from the fact that she could lift a car and throw it clear across a street.
Then again the same could be said of himself, so in that sense they had a lot in common.
Helen refused to meet their gaze, head angled down while she bit her lower lip. On everyone here she was definitely the one he knew about the least. The kid didn't have much memories of her; to him she was just 'Gwen's mom', not someone a 10 year old would worry about even after she got cancer. He didn't know the pain of losing a parent, not really. Richard and Mary Parker were dead long before he could remember anything worthwhile about them.
And Teresa...well, still nothing worthwhile on that front. Saving him from Murdock at the church was soured pretty heavily by the way she treated Mary.
Seconds of silence passed before Helen Stacy finally raised her head to look her daughter and (former) husband in the eye, "...How long has this been going on? The two of you being...together."
"A few months, Helen..." Captain Stacy replied, "We...it started out as a partnership. I retired from police work and DeWolff suggested that I work with Jessica so I could get some idea of how the P.I business worked. After that..."
It just happened naturally, or at least that's what he got from Gwen. He didn't know much about the finer details, and he got the feeling neither did Gwen given how put off she was apparently walking in on them after they'd done it, but he knew that Jones was pregnant and that the kid was coming one way or another. It was a miracle it survived the hell they'd gone through...
"Yeah, I get it." Helen Stacy took a shaky breath,"Why didn't you tell me?"
"How could we?" Gwen asked back weakly, "You just came back, mom. We didn't want to..." Didn't want to ruin things any more than they already were. Peter could sympathize. Despite making peace (somewhat) with what happened to him he still avoided spending too much time with Ben and May apart from the occasional phone call or dinner. They might've been happy their son was back, but a deeper look would cut through that giddy haze damn quick.
"It would've been better than finding out from that tweeter thing," she tried to suppress it, but the bitterness in her voice was clear as day to him, "God...days I thought that we were still..."
"...I'm sorry." Captain Stacy said again, "Like Gwen said we just didn't want to-"
"When was it going to be a good time, George?" she interrupted, "I've been here for days now. I mean I knew there was a reason you were distant, but I thought you were still reeling from everything like I was. I didn't think it was..." She turned her gaze to Jones and the brunette winced. The P.I hated being the center of attention, "She...what was your name again?"
"Jessica Jones," Jones said, finally speaking up for the first time. He couldn't help but notice that she wasn't wearing the engagement ring from before.
"Right...the superpowered P.I. People are calling you Jewel, I think."
"Jewel? For fuck's sake." Jones let out a frustrated breath and pinched the bridge of her nose. It was a nice relief from the tense atmosphere, at least.
"Hm..." Helen smiled wryly and turned back to Captain Stacy, "How far along are you two? And be honest, please."
"...We're engaged." Helen's mouth twitched but the smile remained. Impressive considering how severe this all must have been, "You don't need to hear all the details, but we got together and then one thing led to another and..." He took a deep breath before continuing, "She's pregnant, Helen...we're engaged." And he proposed right before she rose from her damn grave. Murdock said it was a coincidence, but he had his doubts on that.
"I see..." The two words were said in a dull monotone. Her hands shook and she sucked in a quick breath before her smile suddenly widened, "I...I'm happy for you both, really."
Liar.
"Mom-"
"No, Gwen, I get it, I do." Helen interrupted, "It's been 10 years...I didn't want George to mourn me forever." That was the truth, at least, "Seeing all this...you being a Superhero and George happy again...it's a relief knowing that you both pulled together so well." A half lie this time...sometimes he wished he could turn his spider-sense off, "I'm still just shocked, that's all."
"We didn't mean for it to get like this," Gwen muttered, "God, I feel like an asshole for saying it like that, but you're right. We should've told you, but we were scared. We thought you'd..."
"Freak out? Come on, honey, I thought you knew me better than that." It was clear as day that Gwen didn't believe her, but she kept her mouth shut and let her mom continue, "Look, this is...great- okay, no, it kinda sucks, but trust me I can deal." She took a deep breath and stood up, "...I need some air."
"I'll go with-"
"Alone, Gwen."
Despite the smile on Helen's face her words left no argument. Gwen clamped her mouth shut and tucked herself deeper into the couch as her mom walked out. He didn't need enhanced senses to know that she wanted to charge after her. If there was one thing he knew about Gwen Stacy it was that she didn't take things lying down; it made it difficult to stay away for two months during their most painful argument.
An uncomfortable silence settled over the room, broken only by the sounds of creaking wood. Peter looked down at his pressed palms with a scowl and muttered a curse. He wasn't any help here with them.
"...I'm going."
He'd barely stood up before Gwen grabbed his hand, "Don't leave..."
"I'll be back." He squeezed her hand gently before making his way out of the door. The suburbs weren't a very big place, and as tempting as it was to visit Ben and May and drag them into this problem too it was the last thing he actually needed, "Can't have gotten far..." He stuffed his hands into his pockets and walked. She didn't leave with her wallet so he doubted she left the neighborhood.
He found her after a couple of minutes. Peter stopped and frowned when he caught sight of Helen Stacy sitting on the curb with her legs tucked into her chest, arms wrapped around the denim material of her jeans in a tight grip. Even from where he stood he heard the shocked sobs that she tried in vain to restrain. He honestly thought it was a miracle that she'd gotten so far before breaking down.
Peter didn't say a word. After only a moment's hesitation he sat a short distance away from her, pulled out a single cigarette and lit it with a deft flick of the lighter. If she even noticed that he was there then she didn't say a word, choosing to continue her (relatively) restrained breakdown.
A minute of sobs and sniffles came and went before she eventually looked up, her eyes bloodshot and puffy. Peter tried his best not to let anything show and offered her the slightly crumpled packet, "Want one?"
"I don't smoke..." Despite her words she pulled out one of the coffin nails with a shaky hand, which Peter immediately lit. The older woman looked down at the burning stick for a moment before she took a tentative inhale, "Damn," She coughed out the smoke and looked a hair's breath away from throwing it altogether before she took another puff, "God, how does George do this?"
"Captain Stacy smokes?"
"Well, he did. It got worse when I was...you know." She waved the cigarette through the air casually, "He told me a few days ago that he went cold turkey afterwards. Said he didn't want Gwen to think it was okay."
"Something tells me that wouldn't have been a problem." He'd learned to avoid smoking when Gwen was in the room. Even if he was pretty sure lung cancer wasn't a risk she didn't want to take that chance.
"Hmm...aren't you a bit young to be doing this?"
"Between all the killing, theft, blackmail and drinking it's getting annoying that this is the one thing where people draw the line." Back then it wasn't even obvious that it was bad for you; most parents would've been proud to see their kids with their first coffin nail. A sign of growing up, or so they said.
"This stuff'll kill you, you know."
"I don't think either of us have to worry about that." Considering what the deal with them was Murdock would be the death of them both rather than a stick of nicotine.
She went quiet at that, and for a second Peter thought about apologizing before she let out a single, wry laugh, "Guess you're right." She wiped away a few more stray tears and exhaled through her nose, "Gwen tells me that you came back, too."
"Yeah, difference is that my memories aren't exactly...stable." And he wasn't brought back by the devil. Wary as he was about the Spider-God he still considered it the infinitely lesser evil compared to whatever Murdock had on him.
It would have been easier if she was another psychopath like Firestarter or a willing pawn like that bastard Otomo, but she wasn't. Helen Stacy was innocent, and that only made it all the more infuriating to know that Murdock could end her life with a flick of his hand. A part of him was almost tempted to tell her and Gwen, but he held off. What would it do? Their relationship was troubled enough; adding that would just destroy it.
"Yeah, she told me about that too. It sounds like quite the story..." She sat up straighter and loosened her grip on her legs, "I still remember when you and Gwen held up that plastic Captain America shield. Feels like it was yesterday."
"Time flies."
"That it does. I thought I'd have a few more years before I had to talk to my daughter's boyfriend." She smiled at that. Peter refrained from telling her that they weren't actually dating (yet...), "Do you remember anything? From the whole dying part?"
"No." Teresa told him Heaven and Hell existed, but if so he had no clue why couldn't remember the sea of fire and eternal damnation, "You?"
"Nothing but blackness...I don't want to go back to it." She took another shaky inhale from the cigarette, "This...This is fucked up."
"Which part?"
"The part where my daughter grew up and I wasn't there to see it; the part where my husband moved on and has another child on the way; the part where I've been frozen since the day I died and every time I wake up I still expect to see my girl to be ten and for my husband not to have any gray hairs." She let the cigarette drop and shut her eyes to keep the tears from spilling out, "You know all about that, don't you?"
"Not exactly." They weren't the same even despite all their similarities, "...What do you want?"
"Apart from going back in time?" She laughed bitterly, "I want...I wanted to be there and see my daughter grow up, t-to be there for my husband when he had to raise Gwen alone and he put his life at risk every day putting that badge on." She sniffled, "...I wasn't lying back there, when I said I was glad that they pulled together. I wasn't. I just wish that..."
"That you were there with them."
She didn't have to nod; he already knew the answer. Peter took a deep inhale of the cigarette and looked down at the asphalt. Gwen told him that he sucked at comforting, and he was inclined to agree. The kid was a whiny little bastard who thought that he was the only one with problems while Spider-Man...well, the closest thing to comfort he ever had to do was screaming at victims to run before the criminals caught up. He definitely wasn't the person to call when you needed to sympathize with a grieving mother and wife.
Her sniffles and sobs eventually died out and she took another shaky breath, "Alright, I'm...I'm done. Sorry about about that."
"Wasn't looking for an apology." God only knew how many times he'd snapped the past couple of weeks alone, "So...what are your plans now?"
"Now? Ha, fuck if I know." She shrugged, trying to be casual despite the hurt in her voice. He definitely saw where Gwen got a lot of her attitude from, "I mean...I can't live there now, can I? Whoever heard of an ex-wife living in the same house as her ex-husband and his new wife?"
"So you're just moving out?" He heard faint footsteps, but he paid them no mind. It wasn't like they were the only people in this neighborhood, "Do you think that's what Gwen and Captain Stacy want? They just got you back after a decade...and I don't think that's what you want either." Not that he was one to talk. If anyone could win a prize for avoiding problems it was him.
"What other choice do I have? I can't just stay with them now, not after this-"
"Why not?"
Both their heads snapped to the new voice and Peter was only half-surprised to find Jones standing there, hands in her jacket and her expression passive. Helen winced openly and made to stand before Peter spoke up, "Hear her out..."
"But-"
"Look, I just wanna say my piece," Jessica interrupted, both hands held up, "I don't think you wanna listen to me, and shit I don't blame you, but I really don't want to end it like this."
Helen took a deep breath and sat back down again, "Okay...I'm listening."
"Alright, so your plan to move out? Not happening." Helen was about to interrupt before Jessica continued, "Let me finish. You wanna move out later? Fine. But right after this shit? Not a good idea. You just came back, and something tells me that you don't wanna do the same thing Parker here is with his side-gig."
"That's one way to call it..." Peter muttered.
"So I'm supposed to just live in that house while you two are being the happy married couple?" Helen asked back bitterly.
"I don't live there, and something tells me I'm not going to for a while even after this little tagalong finally gets out." She crossed her arms, "...It's a long story, but let's just say that I'm not one for the picket fence lifestyle. George knew that, which is why I'm surprised he was willing to try...whatever this is."
"...Do you love him?"
"Of course I do." Jones pursed her lips and looked away. Peter suddenly felt like he should've left them alone, "I'm a mess, both George and I know that, but he still wants to try and so do I." She sighed, "But that doesn't mean you have to just...cut off and pretend we can just leave this fucked up shit hanging."
"So what do you suggest? Cause right now I'm not seeing a solution here."
"You think I do? All I'm saying is what you shouldn't do, nothing else." Jones smiled wryly, "If there's one thing I do know, though, it's that Gwen needs her mom the same way that she needs Parker. I'm not saying we have to be friends, in fact I'm pretty damn sure that you hate me, but both Gwen and George deserve better than the both of us playing soap opera."
"...I don't hate you, for what it's worth. This hurts, but it would've been worse if George had no one when Gwen finally grew up." Helen sighed in turn and made a sound at the back of her throat, "Look...can we talk? No bullshit, just...lay it all out there."
"Yeah, sure..." Jones said, "Give us a minute would you, Parker?" She nudged her head back in the direction of the Stacy house, "Stacy was looking for you too, by the way. Probably worried you ran off."
With good reason considering his track record. He shared one last look with Helen Stacy before he stood and made his way back to the Stacy house. He needed to deal with Murdock, and soon.
"The results are...interesting, Ms. Watson."
Mary Jane cringed and sat up on the bed, the patient gown shifting loosely in response to the movement. She had to admit the fact that she was currently stuck in the observation module (read: see-through cube with nothing but a bed) was a bit unnerving, but considering what she knew about the Wasp it was probably one of the better options. She didn't fancy being shrunk down and put in a petri dish, after all.
That and this place had wi-fi and Ms. Van Dyne was kind enough to give her a laptop while she did her tests, which was nice.
"What do you mean interesting?" she asked. In her experience that usually meant bad news, like the time she called Gayle's foray into BDSM fiction 'fascinating'...
"I think it'd be better if I showed you."
She tapped a button on the remote and the door slid open with a hiss. Mary Jane swung her legs down and shivered when her bare feet made contact with the cold floor, "Show me what?" she stepped out of the cube and rubbed her left wrist. The tests were actually pretty mild - just a few tissue samples and injections - but she couldn't help but feel like something was going to go wrong at some point.
A feeling that only grew worse when Wasp gestured for her to come closer to the large screen that took up one side of the room, "Do you know much about biology, Ms. Watson?"
"Not really, always got C's in those."
"Making jokes? Good, cause you're gonna need to keep your chin up." The smile on the older woman's face was strained, which was hardly a good sign, "You told me before that you wanted the symbiote severed from you."
"Yeah..." She couldn't deny that there was a definite temptation to keep the powers, but it just wasn't worth it. Not after the absolute hell the past week was, "...No luck?"
"Not exactly." She typed something on the keyboard and the screen lit up. Mary Jane looked up in confusion at the various charts and paragraphs of data that littered the surface, "It would take days to go through all the details, so let's get down to the meat of it."
"I'm...guessing that this means you can't remove this thing?"
She tapped something else on the keyboard in lieu of answering and two more images popped up on screen. Strands of DNA, but they were different. The one on the left looked normal, like something out of her high school textbook, but the one on the right...
"Is that...mine?" she gulped nervously and looked up at the malformed...thing on the screen. Her rudimentary biology knowledge told her that DNA should've looked like a ladder - a double Helix, Mrs. Turner said - but the one on the screen was anything but. If she looked close she could see what looked like a ladder, but the rungs were twisted and misshapen and far from stable looking.
"Yes." Ms. Van Dyne nodded severely, "Similar to Gwen your body has been altered at a molecular level by the symbiote. I'm afraid that removing S.H.I.E.L.D's little pet project for you would have severe consequences."
"Just how severe are we talking here, doc?"
"Best case scenario? The equivalent of living without your eyes or being turned quadriplegic."
Mary Jane winced. That was the best they could hope for? "And...the worst?"
"Death." Well...she saw that coming. Mary Jane took a deep breath to try and calm herself and hugged herself tightly, "I'm...sorry, I really am, but this...there's nothing that can be done, at least not within the timeframe we have so far. S.H.I.E.L.D would have more data since they created it, but I think we've all made clear that we'd rather keep them out of this."
"Yeah..."
"It's not all bad news, however." She pulled out a syringe filled with dark yellow fluid from the nearby table, "This is a stronger suppressant I made using the old one as a base. You were becoming more and more resistant to the old one, if you weren't aware." Teresa mentioned something about that before... "Gwen's symbiote was made from a mix of the serum and radioactive isotopes, but not yours-"
"It's not mine," she interrupted with a growl.
"Kasady's then," she continued, "But as I was saying, Kasady's symbiote is lacking in the radioactive isotopes, hence why you're gaining a resistance to it. From what I could gather S.H.I.E.L.D mixed the serum with the Hyde Formula used by a certain Calvin Zabo a few years ago. It would definitely explain why it lashed out so badly - the radioactive isotopes would've acted as a stabilizing agent, but the Hyde Formula, as its namesake indicates, increases violent impulses and impairs judgement. Mix that with the Lizard serum and..."
"You get the Carnage killer." Captain America said it was that Kasady asshole's fault, but this thing - monster - followed along like a damn puppy.
"Precisely." Her face shifted in frustration for a brief moment before she calmed down, "The suppressant I created should stabilize you, but it also has a cost."
"Of course it does." Mary Jane sighed. What else was new? "Hit me, doc."
"As should be obvious the formula is untested, meaning that there might be side-effects." Mary Jane nodded. She expected that, "Dosages will have to be daily, every day or two at the very least, and..." She paused and took a deep breath, "I want you to understand that the components of the suppressant are severe. On the off-chance that I find a way to separate the symbiote from you it's very likely that you'll have to take it for the rest of your life."
"Great, always wanted to see what being a junkie was like." Mary pinched the bridge of her nose and pursed her lips to keep herself from screaming in frustration at the unfairness of it all, "...Is there any good news?"
"Besides the increased mental stability? A few." She turned the screen off, "I made some observations on both you and Gwen. Your strength, agility, durability and various other physical attributes are far improved from what they were before, but you might be interested to know that the rate of aging and degradation in your DNA has been massively slowed due to the symbiote's bond. What this means is that your and Gwen's lifespan has increased exponentially, and it's quite possible that you both will be functionally unaging similar to Agent Romanoff, Wilson and Director Carter."
"So I'm a druggie for a long life, great..." She should've been more ecsatic, but honestly the entire thing just sounded more and more like consolation prizes. Strength and possible immortality in exchange for a murderous monster that constantly screamed into her head? No fucking thanks, "Could we just get this over with, please? I wanna put it all behind me..."
"Of course, I understand. Go back to the observation module and let me see how the new suppressant interacts with your body. With any luck you should be stabilized and able to go home before the day's done."
Going home before the day was done was a pipe dream, but Wasp did finish up her testing an hour after midnight and another hour after that MJ was out on the streets again with a nicely packed sandwich and a fresh change of (way too fancy for her tastes) clothes. The redhead took a deep breath of the early morning air and raised the sandwich to her mouth with one hand, the other holding onto the backpack that contained her 'costume'.
That was it, she was...well, not cured, especially not after the whole 'willing drug addiction' thing, but she felt better than she had in days. She pulled her phone out of her pocket when she saw the chain of messages from Glory asking if she was okay. Did she blame herself for what happened, Mary Jane wondered. It was the argument that drove her out of the apartment that night, after all.
She was about to respond before she saw the person in front of her - a young man who didn't look a day over 16 - get yanked into the alley with a muffled scream. Mary Jane's eyes widened and her grip on the phone tightened. A mugging? Kidnapping? The streets were almost abandoned so she wasn't surprised whoever it was did it right now.
Could she call the police? No, that'd take way too long; guy would be long gone by the time they got here. What else could she-
...
Her gaze shifted to the backpack on her right hand and she grimaced, 'God damn it.' Was she really going to do this? It wasn't like it was the first mugging she'd seen. She lived in New York City all her life, so she knew the proper procedure was to duck your head, walk away and maybe call the cops if you could.
...Fuck.
No time for a full costume change. She grabbed the mask and gloves from the bag and put them on in a rush, shucking off the designer jacket in favor of the ratty blue hoodie as she did. She couldn't do even half of the things that monster was capable of, but she was still stronger and faster than before, right? It wouldn't be so bad. Just a couple of punches and she could pretend this didn't happen.
She dialed 911 and gave them an address before she ran into the alley, 'Shit...' Mary Jane stopped when she saw the three burly guys surrounding the teenager.
"We know you fucking snitched on us, Reyes!" The one at front snarled, his buzzcut and tattoos basically screaming 'I'm a thug for hire', "You know what we do to snitches, you little shit!"
"Dennis, I-I promise I didn't! I swear!"
It was now or never. Mary Jane stood up straighter, balled her hands into fists and screamed, "Let him go!"
All three thugs turned to look at her, and their faces went from scowls to blank-eyed surprise to bemused laughter, "Holy shit, another one?" The leader - Dennis - looked back at his cohorts and let out another belt of laughter, "Goddamn, what is with this town and gimps?"
"I said let him go!"
"Better idea, chica; why don't you tell us your name, huh? Me and the guys could use a good laugh."
Mary Jane rushed ahead faster than the guy could react and pushed him away from the younger teen hard enough to make him skid across the alley, "The name's Scarlet Spider." That...didn't sound as she cool as she thought it did. She pulled the kid back and shoved him towards the other end of the alley. With any luck he'd be smart enough to run for cover.
"Get that fucking bitch!" Dennis screamed.
Mary Jane wanted to say she took them out with her hands behind her back, but that was far from the truth. The first one rushed towards her with a knife raised and Mary Jane stumbled back, nearly tripping over herself in her attempt to dodge the attack. The dull blade sliced through the shoulder of her hoodie before she kicked at his leg in a panic.
The sickening crack was loud enough to echo throughout the alley. The second thug winced as his friend fell down and cradled his broken leg, which she used as a chance to tackle him clumsily against the opposite wall shoulder first. She heard another scream of pain and she let him fall onto the ground in a heap. Messy, but they weren't dead, at least. The prison clinic could patch them up...right?
Her thoughts on their well-being were cut off when she heard a click Dennis' direction. Her head snapped to the source and she froze when she saw him standing up shakily and aiming a pistol right at her. She could've run over there and knocked it out of his hands, maybe even taken the bullet, but she remained rooted to the spot. Powers or no she wasn't a damn vigilante like Gwen and Peter were.
The bastard's mouth parted in a wide grin just before a length of leather tangled itself around his wrist. His eyes widened for a split second before the hand was forced up and the gun discharged harmlessly in the air, "Wha-" He looked up just in time to catch a wave of platinum blond hair before they both heard a soft click.
Just a week ago the sight of some poor bastard (emphasis on that second part) being electrocuted would have caused her to look away, but now she looked on, hypnotized, and curled her lips up in a grin.
It was...hot.
The electrocution lasted for only a few seconds before the thug fell down to the ground, twitching and spasming all the way. The dark blur from above landed behind her and kicked the two prone attackers on the ground, "That should keep them out till the police get here." Mary Jane turned back and laughed under her breath when she saw Felicia dressed in full costume. It was honestly a relief to see her again after a day of sterile walls and computers.
"...Hey," she greeted, for lack of anything better to say.
"Hey yourself, 'Scarlet Spider'." She smirked at that, "Come on, the police are going to be here soon."
Soon was right. They'd barely made it to the closest rooftop before the police car came blazing down the street, sirens blaring, "We gotta go." Felicia tugged on her arm and Mary Jane followed. It wasn't the first time she ran from the cops - she'd been in her fair share of rowdy and not-legal parties, after all - but this was an adrenaline rush unlike any other. She just commited an act of vigilantism; a few counts of underage drinking and noise disturbance were so petty by comparison. This must've been how Gwen felt like all those years ago, before that night at prom.
It helped that she didn't kill anyone, so Mary Jane didn't feel disgusted with herself just yet...
She didn't know how long they ran, but by the time they stopped at a relatively tall building Felicia was visibly out of breath and Mary Jane...wasn't. Just another reminder of how much she'd changed, "Well...that was something." Felicia bent over and put her hands on her knees to balance herself. Mary Jane didn't look at the droplets of sweat that fell down on her exposed chest, definitely not.
"Yeah, it was..." Mary Jane pulled off the mask from her face and brushed away the sweat matted hair, wincing at the soreness at her feet. The boots she was loaned really weren't made for running in, "...How'd you find me?"
"Would you believe it was just a coincidence?"
"Sure, the second you tell me that you're not actually a thief with a weird vendetta against a blind lawyer."
"When someone kills your father you tend to hold a grudge," she responded casually, ignoring Mary Jane's look of utter shock, "Why so surprised, Jane? Surely you didn't think I hated that diable just because he gave me a bad review?"
"I mean...I guess not, but I didn't think it was..."
"It's passed, Scarlet. No need for sympathies." She clapped her on the shoulder gently, "As for how I found you, Spider put a tracker on your phone that he 'borrowed' from Moon Knight. After the incident with his sister he didn't want to take any chances."
"I get that." She didn't like the fact that he didn't tell her, but she still got it, "But why you?"
"He asked me to look out for you since he and Stacy are apparently in some family drama." She waved a hand through the air and smiled, "I got a warning when you suddenly started moving...didn't expect you to try your hand at the vigilante business. Still, it's hardly the worst thing I've had to deal with this week. You're just lucky I recognized you in that godawful outfit of yours."
"Yeah, well, I don't exactly have fancy Dyne particle suits like Gwen does." Mary Jane rolled her eyes. There was the Felicia she knew and loathed, "But...thanks, for saving my ass, I mean."
"Save? Hardly." She snorted, "If you're anything like Spider-Woman then that bullet would've been a mosquito bite."
"I still appreciate it."
She seemed surprised at that, if only briefly, "Well...then, you're welcome." She flipped her hair haughtily and gestured to the bright lights of the city that greeted them, "What do you say, Scarlet? Did you get a taste of the vigilante craze that's been going around? I'm curious."
"Kinda..." She couldn't deny there was a rush there (and something else she didn't want to think about...), but she still froze when at the first gun pointed at her. It was a normal reaction, but it didn't exactly bode well for someone who wanted to try their hand at the 'Spider-Woman thing', as people called it, "...Hey, can I ask your something?"
"Why is it people always ask that when they don't want to hear no? If you want to ask something then just ask."
"Right...well, I know this sounds weird, but how do you deal with all that? The fear, I mean." She released an exhausted breath, "When that monster was in control I didn't feel afraid, but when I was by myself...the first thing I thought of when I saw that gun was how big of a mistake I made."
"You think I'm not afraid to die," Felicia said.
"Aren't you? You don't have any powers and yet here you are swinging through buildings with that whip of yours when even one mistake means being a pancake on the pavement."
"Let's just say I had a good teacher. I learned at a young age." She smiled wistfully. It looked...odd on her. Odd, but not unpleasant, "I'm well aware that I didn't win the genetic lottery like Spider-Woman and She-Hulk, that even a single mistake could be fatal. Still, if I let that stop me I'd never get anything done. You could get run over walking down the street, but people still do it."
"Crossing the street isn't exactly the same as swinging from buildings."
"Isn't it? Both carry risks, people just view it differently. It's all on how you perceive it. People are more afraid of crashing planes than they are about car crashes even if the former's far less likely to happen than the latter. I'm careful about how I do it, but I don't fear it. The same way I don't feel afraid of crossing the street or slipping on a bar of soap and breaking my neck. I know my limitations."
"Yeah, but...how?"
"Lots of practice."
Felicia winked at her before immediately letting herself fall off the building. Mary Jane's eyes widened and she shelved her hesitation to immediately jump after her. Felicia looked up (down?) at her, lips still raised in a teasing smile. Mary Jane wanted to slap it out of her face.
They were halfway to the ground by the time Mary Jane caught up to her. Without missing a beat the cat burglar (and a whole host of other names Mary Jane wanted to call her) suddenly flipped herself upright and pulled Mary Jane close to herself with her left hand while her right attached the stretchy whip to a nearby ledge. Mary Jane almost heaved at the sudden stop before they bounced up and down slowly.
"See?"
"See what? That you're fucking insane?" Mary Jane looked her in the eye and blinked at how close they were. This definitely wasn't how she expected the night to go, "What the hell was that supposed to prove?" She tried to put some distance between them, but considering they were hanging by an almost literal thread her options were rather limited.
"Everyone just needs a little push. For someone who froze at getting a gun pointed at her you sure didn't hesitate to jump after me and risk turning into an, as you say, 'pancake'." Felicia gave her a teasing smirk and she suddenly felt an uncomfortable heat on her cheeks, "So don't beat yourself up for not being 'brave' enough. If you ask me it seems like you've kept your sanity despite everything."
It was the wrong place and time for it, but being so close to Felicia Goddamned Hardy - with all her stunts and her suicidal attitude - was driving her insane.
At least that's what Mary Jane would tell anyone who asked why she suddenly kissed her.
Felicia was surprised by the gesture, but as expected she quickly reversed it and deepened the kiss, using their odd position to ensure that she had the upper hand. Despite the strain of holding them both up with one hand she didn't seem to have a problem at all and her other hand tugged at Mary Jane's hair roughly, forcing the younger woman to look up at her.
"...I guess I spoke too soon."
"Guess you did." This time it was Mary Jane who smirked, "...You actually have a plan to get us down from here?"
"I always have a plan, Scarlet."
She untangled the whip and they fell again. This time Mary Jane didn't feel any fear and just watched Felicia attach the whip to another ledge and swing them down into the dark alleyway without much fanfare.
"...Maybe I should ask Ms. Van Dyne if I could borrow some webshooters."
"Spider's been fine without it so far." Felicia replied, "Come on."
"Where to?"
"My place isn't too far from here. We can't pick up where we left off."
Well...okay then.
Spider-Man opened his eyes and hissed at the light scratches on his shoulders. Kat was getting better, but she still couldn't stop herself from going off at the last minute.
Thank Spider-God he healed fast.
He swung his legs over the edge of the bed and rubbed his eyes. Clock said it was a few minutes past 4 am, so he didn't see the point of getting much sleep, "Kat, wake up." He turned around and tapped her bare shoulder, which earned him an annoyed growl. She was always a grouchy sleeper, "Hey, you were the one who wanted to get up early, remember?"
"Fuck off..." She tucked herself deeper into the blankets and groaned.
"Fine." He rolled his eyes and stood up, trudging towards the messy pile of clothes scattered around the corner. He'd learned to get them off quick; Kat was impatient when she got into one of her moods, "Come on, where is it...?" He rummaged through the pile in search of his underwear. Laundry day was still a couple of days away and he didn't fancy deviating from their established routine now.
The fact that they had a routine at all was a surprise, but he wasn't going to complain.
No underwear, but he saw something else that caught his eye. A half-open wallet with its contents exposed for all the world to see. It wasn't his, so that meant... "Hm," He picked it up after a moment of hesitation and looked over the contents. He recognized Kat and 'the old man' easily enough, but the other three were a mystery to him. A tan man covered in tattoos with a mohawk, a broad shouldered man with a mane of blonde hair and finally a teenager with a darker shade of blonde from the last one.
He was so busy poring over the pictures that he hadn't even noticed the soft footsteps before it was too late.
Spider-Man stiffened when a slender arm wrapped itself around his shoulders, "Drop it," she whispered, voice sickly sweet. He was about to say something back before he felt her fingers dance across his third leg...which would have been much more arousing if she hadn't been brandishing her claws as she did, "Before you lose something you're going to regret."
"You don't have to be so dramatic, Kat." Without missing a beat he tossed the wallet over his shoulder and let her catch it, resuming his search for his underclothes. Anyone else would've been disturbed, but he'd learned to deal with her...quirks.
"Just didn't expect you to snoop into my stuff, partner." She pulled out a loose shirt and a pair of shorts from the pile and put them on lazily.
"I was just curious. You don't seem like a people kind of person."
"I'm not." She opened and closed the wallet a couple of times before they continued, "The guy with the mohawk is Daken, one of the old man's bastard kids. Old guy's Victor Creed, but I used to call him Uncle Victor."
"A brother and an uncle? Surprised you never mentioned them before."
"Why would I? They're dead."
"...Can I ask why?"
"Because Logan and I killed them," she said without a hint of hesitation or shame.
Spider-Man knew better than to be surprised, but he still asked, "Then why do you have their pictures in your wallet?"
"Why not?" she asked back, "Just cause Daken's a rapist with daddy issues and Victor's more rabid than a dog with rabies doesn't mean they're not family. When I got this thing the shopkeeper said you put things like family or a boyfriend in here, so I just left them in."
"Makes sense, I guess." He didn't want to argue her logic of keeping pictures of the people she killed, "So who's the kid? Your boyfriend?"
"Aww, are you getting jealous?" she teased, looking up at him with a smirk.
"Yeah, it's gonna keep me up at night if I don't know." He rolled his eyes. She definitely enjoyed her fair share of heckling.
"Don't worry, partner, he's just another 'brother' of mine. Logan got real drunk on the Canadian border once and little Jimmy here's the result." Her smile was almost fond, though he could have been imagining things, "I kept an eye on him once, to see if he'd turn into one of us, but he's clean. No claws, no healing factor...guess he got lucky. I'm glad at least one of us isn't a dog, at least."
"You're not a dog. You're crazy, violent and probably psychotic, but that just means you're human."
"You always know just what to say to cheer me up." She slapped the left side of his face mockingly and laughed under her breath.
"Yeah, yeah..." He pushed her hand off and finished putting on his clothes, "I gotta get breakfast started."
"Wow, cheering me up and cooking me breakfast? If this is how you treat your fuck buddies I wonder how you treat your girlfriend."
"Wouldn't know. Never had one." Thoughts of Felicia came and went before he stamped it down. A dumb crush, nothing more, "And who said I was cooking for you, anyway?"
"Says me, the girl who's paying all the bills since you stopped coming with me on bounty jobs. Gotta earn your upkeep somehow; this relationship's give and take, Petey."
"I told you to stop calling me that..."
Breakfast was...calm. It might've been odd to say considering he was sitting across an unrepentant killer and mercenary for hire, but there it was. It was another part of their routine. Shadowcat got up early to get a headstart on their jobs and when she got back he cleaned up and cooked dinner for them both. He felt like a maid, but it was better than working as a gun for hire now that he got what he wanted.
"You heard from Logan?" he asked. He only met him a couple of times in his time here, and both times were a few minutes at most. Evidently Kat didn't like him staying around too long.
"He's in Idaho last I checked. Dunno what he's doing." She shrugged and shoveled a whole egg into her mouth, "You know, if there's one thing I'm gonna miss when you're gone it's getting an actual home cooked meal. Canned food sucks; the preservatives ruin everything."
"Good to know that I'm valued, at least."
She was about to respond with a no doubt snarky reply before her phone buzzed. Kat looked down at the message and her body immediately stiffened, the smile on her face being replaced by what could only be described as a cross between excitement and anger...which was an odd combination, but par for the course when it came to her.
"Ha...change of plans." She pushed the plate away and sucked in a breath through her teeth, "I'm gonna leave town."
"What? For how long?"
"I dunno, a few days. Week tops." She stood up and made her way back to the bedroom while Spider-Man followed, "I just got some big news. It can't wait."
"What's going on?"
She grabbed the suitcase from the top of the closet and paused, "You know about Weapon X, right?" He nodded. Her stories made it hard to forget, "Well, apparently Carter found one of their bases; probably one of the last ones that exist, really. One of the deals I made with S.H.I.E.L.D was that if they find any more sites they let me take a first crack at it. They weren't happy - operational risk and all - but I do good work."
"And you're leaving?"
"That's what I said." She packed a pile of clothes into the suitcase messily, "There's enough food on the fridge to last the week and I paid the cable bill, so I doubt you'll be bored without my enjoyable company." She winked, "Just make sure not to burn the place down or I really will cut your dick off."
"Better idea: I'm coming with you."
She paused her packing and looked at him blankly, "...Why?"
"Cause you're one of the few lifelines I have in this place and I wanna make sure you don't die while I'm not looking." And to be honest he didn't like the idea of being trapped in this madhouse of a city alone, "Like I said before, someone has to make sure you don't get killed."
"I've managed well so far...but fine, it's your funeral." She shrugged, "Could use someone to talk to in the car anyway. Just make sure you don't die, hm? I am still babysitting you, after all."
"Trust me, Kat, I've come too far to die here..."
Helen Stacy's on the road to recovery (kinda), Mary Jane is still going insane and of course Spider-Man and Shadowcat are going after Weapon X. None of these are really connected so far, so hopefully it's all good.
Anyway, I don't think there's a single partnership in this story that's not unhealthy and dysfunctional in some way: Peter and Gwen are ignoring their issues and have a whole lot of other reasons I mentioned; Cindy and Harry are hatefucking for lack of better options; Felicia is unintentionally exacerbating Mary Jane's descent into sadism; and of course Spider-Man and Shadowcat are two violent assholes who joke around (the latter moreso) about their various problems.
...And yet the last of the two seem the most content, so puzzle that one out.
Oh, and Gabriel makes a cameo appearance...being victimized yet again for snitching and needing to be saved by a hero. This guy's like the reverse Turk Barret: saving him is like an initiation ritual to get into the Earth-65 vigilante gig proper. Pretty soon Frog-Man's gonna save his ass.
Question:
1. Just the one question: which character story do we focus on? I can stay in New York and have them deal with what problems they have there or we can take a vacation and watch Spider-Man and Shadowcat put down one of the last Weapon X facilities. The former is just more of the same so far (though it'll lead closer to the Carnival date people want to see) while the latter gives Shadowcat more development and changes things up somewhat for the relationship the two have.
That's assuming you guys don't want to see Weapon X and just prefer we have it happen off-screen like Mysterio.
Loktarogar
The Apex of Cuddling
- Location
- Brazil
My vote goes to New York!
Because I am excited to see what happens next, the drama is really engaging.
Also dat Felicia and MJ moment was foreshadowed, but very welcome, because I know like you said it is very unhealth(also Felicia corrupting MJ), a little happiness for MJ is good after a string of bad stuff hitting her.
Jessica conversation with Helen result is making me so much curious! Also, Cindy needs to find a better boyfriend, the poor girl deserves it.
Because I am excited to see what happens next, the drama is really engaging.
Also dat Felicia and MJ moment was foreshadowed, but very welcome, because I know like you said it is very unhealth(also Felicia corrupting MJ), a little happiness for MJ is good after a string of bad stuff hitting her.
Jessica conversation with Helen result is making me so much curious! Also, Cindy needs to find a better boyfriend, the poor girl deserves it.
Lone Courier 6
Devilish Fool
- Location
- United States of Quests
I wanna see more Shadowcat please.
Madou Sutegobana
Autocorrupt has been disabled.
- Location
- Twin Realms Mandala
I would like to see Frog-Man save Gabriel.
Heads up: 3 votes for New York and 2 for Weapon X so far.
The Felicia and MJ moment wasn't meant to be wholly romantic. Remember that this version of Felicia isn't just a cat burglar who steals trinkets and then does interplay with Spider-Man, but rather someone who actually fits into a group that consists of people like Punisher and Bullseye.
As for Cindy getting a boyfriend; she does mention trying to ask out a couple of people. Sadly Bobby Morse takes fraternization rules seriously while the cop she asked out - Patrick Mulligan - was happily married, albeit flattered he was given attention to by a Superhero. Her dating luck is abysmal.
Depends on the votes.
Carnage!MJ will also fall under Felicia and Gwen's purview now that they know, which frees Peter up to focus on other things...like the budding love triangle between him, Murdock and Jack. I'm definitely interested in where this steamy threesome is going As for Spider-Man...can I ask what exactly you find disinteresting about him? Any help and tips is always good for improvement
...Wasn't actually part of the choices, but I'll take note of that. Though knowing Frog-Man Gabriel might save him instead.
The Felicia and MJ moment wasn't meant to be wholly romantic. Remember that this version of Felicia isn't just a cat burglar who steals trinkets and then does interplay with Spider-Man, but rather someone who actually fits into a group that consists of people like Punisher and Bullseye.
As for Cindy getting a boyfriend; she does mention trying to ask out a couple of people. Sadly Bobby Morse takes fraternization rules seriously while the cop she asked out - Patrick Mulligan - was happily married, albeit flattered he was given attention to by a Superhero. Her dating luck is abysmal.
Depends on the votes.
Carnage!MJ will also fall under Felicia and Gwen's purview now that they know, which frees Peter up to focus on other things...like the budding love triangle between him, Murdock and Jack. I'm definitely interested in where this steamy threesome is going
As for Spider-Man...can I ask what exactly you find disinteresting about him? Any help and tips is always good for improvement ...Wasn't actually part of the choices, but I'll take note of that. Though knowing Frog-Man Gabriel might save him instead.
Last edited:
- Location
- Australia
I don't really have any criticism for the character, but at the moment with everything that's happening to Noir, I'd rather focus on him. Spider man just feels kind of like repeating everything that happened to Noir, even if there are differences.
Repeating how? I thought I wrote him to be a less problematic version: less angst, less unrelated side-questing and more goal oriented. Even the Weapon X arc counts since he points out that Shadowcat going off and possibly dying screws him over as well.
Been a while since I did this, but segment question again: The vote on whether to stay in New York or go for Weapon X is still stuck, but I need help deciding something. The Weapon X chapter I already have a general idea on what to write, but for the NYC one I'm stuck with three. The first segment is a Gwen POV that deals with them picking up where the Helen talk left off, but the second one is where I'm stuck with a choice:
A. Focus on MJ and see how she tries (emphasis on that) to be normal now that she's gotten better treatment and Gwen knows about her condition. Might also visit her dad to see if he's alright.
B. Focus on Wraith and Kate checking the LMD facility so we can get some progression on the Hobgoblin plot for Gwen's side of the story. Might also include another 'fame' segment where Gwen and Cindy play celebrity at a talk show and answer some important questions (shitposts from fans).
C. Focus on Lana, Noir, Felicia and Norah working together to try and puzzle out a new lead on Murdock now that Peter's cut off contact with Teresa. Will definitely include more Lana sourness and angst.
A. Focus on MJ and see how she tries (emphasis on that) to be normal now that she's gotten better treatment and Gwen knows about her condition. Might also visit her dad to see if he's alright.
B. Focus on Wraith and Kate checking the LMD facility so we can get some progression on the Hobgoblin plot for Gwen's side of the story. Might also include another 'fame' segment where Gwen and Cindy play celebrity at a talk show and answer some important questions (shitposts from fans).
C. Focus on Lana, Noir, Felicia and Norah working together to try and puzzle out a new lead on Murdock now that Peter's cut off contact with Teresa. Will definitely include more Lana sourness and angst.