Chapter 106 - Nothing Goes Well
I've gotten comments indicating that Gwen's less interesting for certain readers because she's lacking in drama and struggle compared to Peter. I'll try to change that in the upcoming chapters, but if that's not good enough then I should probably inform everyone that V2 is more Gwen's story, as far as the overarching plot goes. That's not to say Noir's not involved or important anymore, but Hobgoblin is more her villain than Peter's. We also deal with Gwen's family and her life as a whole more in this volume.
Anyway, the amount of votes for main story v. the Lana omake was actually pretty close, which was a bit surprising. I definitely never expected Lana to appeal to the audience as much as she did when I first introduced her.
So I gave the chapter to my friend again and she made two funny comments: first she commented that Cindy's probably the most fucked up character in the story given her behavior and issues that she refuses to acknowledge. By contrast she stated that Shadowcat is one of the least fucked up by virtue of her not having angst or issues about who she is.
She also likened the story to the Isekai (taken to another world to be a badass) genre that's saturated anime nowadays. Though she did state that it was only a thin connection: Noir isn't the biggest badass (he's pretty low on the Super totem pole), he doesn't have a harem (the only ones who consider a relationship are Gwen and Lana), he doesn't win effortlessly (just check the Jack arc and his rivalry with Matt) and being 'trapped' in Earth-65 has arguably made his situation far worse (the entire story...).
Side Note - Currently watching Jessica Jones S2 and the themes of addiction and desire to be special are very appealing to me. That and showing how society reacts to the Powered living among them. While I can't do much with it now, I can definitely explore those themes in V2, especially given that the year long time skip between the volumes allows the status quo to change around a bit.
Chapter 106: Nothing Goes Well
"What the hell's going between you and Cindy?"
There were better places to be having this conversation than on the opposite sides of reinforced glass, but Peter was never one for good timing. Osborn's head snapped up at the sudden question, doing his damnedest to keep his expression unreadable.
It didn't work. He could practically see the shock across his face.
"Wh-What?" he said. Despite the inches of clear glass between them his voice carried through without any muffling. Peter was just glad they weren't put in the same cell. It was bad enough something from him was going inside Osborn, he didn't want to be in the same confined space while it was happening, "I just...that's random. What do you mean by that?"
"You know what I'm talking about." Peter's mouth twitched. The bastard was stalling, "The way you were acting around her...something's going on."
"Is this really the time for this conversation?"
"Only reason you'd hesitate is if you had something to hide." Peter scoffed, "Out with with, Osborn. I can find out from you or from Cin, and something tells me that her version's not gonna be so flattering for you."
"You're a real piece of work, you know that?" Peter didn't bother to respond to that. He was well aware of how he was, thank you very much, "Why the hell are you even asking?"
"Because I don't trust you and I care about Cin." He knew she could take care of herself, but he couldn't let it go. Despite everything she trusted too much and risked her life for people who didn't deserve her help. Just like Gwen, "So give me an answer, before I stop being so polite."
"Christ, you're such an asshole." A soft, bitter laugh escaped the former soldier, "...We're sleeping together."
"I figured that out as soon as Spider-Man's kid opened her trap," he replied, "That's not it. Why'd you want her to come with us?" Anyone else would've called him paranoid, but he'd learned to trust his gut instinct; and right now it was screaming at him.
"Maybe I just don't like the idea of being stuck in the same room alone with you?" Osborn asked back sarcastically.
"Then why not call on Gwen? God knows she's the only one in that room that cares about you."
"So you love to remind me." Osborn crossed his arms and looked away, turning his back to Peter and masking his face from view. A silence settled over them briefly before Osborn finally spoke again, "...I like her."
"...Great." Peter pinched the bridge of his nose and sucked in a frustrated breath. He wasn't so naive to think that Osborn meant to add 'as a friend' to the end of that declaration, "Does she know?"
"Hell if I know." He shrugged, "I didn't exactly tell her. She kinda hates me, you know?" He tilted his head back to look at him, mouth curled up in a sardonic smile, "Just my luck, huh? The first girl I fall in love with I tried to kill and the second hates my guts and is using me to blackmail my dad for favors."
"Why do you like her?" It was a bizarre sight, talking about their fucked up 'love lives' while they were stuck in isolation cells, but considering their life it felt par for the course, "She's made it no secret she's not fond of you."
"Yeah, don't I know it?" he replied, "It's just...well, it's hard to explain. The past ten years were complete shit for her: trapped in a bunker, tortured by the Cindy Moon of this place, forced to work for S.H.I.E.L.D...you name it. But despite all that she still puts on a costume and helps people, still gives a crap about strangers when she could just leave them and care only about herself."
"...She reminds you of Gwen."
"Ha, maybe, but I don't think so. At least not completely." He sighed, "Gwen...I tried to kill her because I wanted - needed - someone to blame for not speaking up when you and her fought that night at prom. If I hadn't frozen, hadn't just watched like a damn idiot, maybe you wouldn't have died. So I blamed Spider-Woman for it." He laughed, "At least that's what I told myself. Like you said, I wanted to feel important."
"The kid was dead the second he injected himself." Was he trying to comfort him or just stating a fact? Peter had no idea.
"Yeah, guess so." He frowned, "Gwen forgave me. After everything I did, everything I blamed her for, she still looks at me like I'm the same guy who she made friends with that day at lunch. It made my feelings for her worse, but a part me...I wanted her to hate me. If she did then I could make myself feel important - feel like the victim - again. Instead she never once brings it up, not even when I'm at my worst."
"How does this go back to Cindy?"
"She's not like Gwen. She reminds me of what I did and tells me that I'm a coward because I let my dad solve my problems for me." He pursed his lips, "If it was just that then maybe I'd hate her, but she...pushes me. She'll complain and tell me that she doesn't really care, but the only reason I even started trying to make real amends is because she pushed me to."
"You're using her as a crutch, Osborn..."
"Always seeing the worst in me, huh?" He clicked his tongue, "Maybe you have a point, but it's none of your business. I don't plan to hurt Cindy and I doubt I could even if I wanted to. I'm just glad she's helping me with this. She doesn't have to, and it'e be better for her if I never shaped up. More blackmail material for my dad."
"Do you honestly think she'll ever reciprocate?"
"I doubt it, but hey, look at you and Gwen." Even without seeing his face Peter could practically feel the smirk that came afterwards, "I maybe be worse than you, but we're both killers with blood on our hands and neither of us are going to be clean any time soon. Despite that Gwen refuses to give up on you and somehow the two of you are together. I figure anything's possible."
"You really are insane..." Peter laughed and pressed his back against the wall, sliding down to sit as he did. He had a point there, much as Peter hated to admit it, "Fine, keep pining after her. I know she's not stupid enough to do anything about it."
Osborn sat down opposite him and tapped the clear glass between them, "...We never liked each other, did we?"
"You and the kid? Probably not," Peter replied, "When he first saw you he thought of you as just another weirdo in a school full of em. In fact he was relieved. Another loser to take the attention of him so maybe they'd bully you instead of him." God, that kid - he - was a real piece of shit, "When Gwen suggested they make friends with you he had mixed feelings. Guy was a possessive little bastard."
"It wasn't all bad. I remember our sleepovers, playing games and devising D&D campaigns till midnight. Or did you or him or both of you just pretend to have fun then?"
"It wasn't pretend, at least not completely. He was happy that he found someone he could share all that with besides Gwen, but..." He took a deep breath, "He resented the fact that you weren't scared and withdrawn like him. You liked all the same stuff he did and he hated that you didn't try to hide it, that you didn't even pretend to be ashamed like he was. He wanted to drag you down through the mud to his level, and after you told him you liked Gwen...well, the rest is history."
"Hmm..." They were quiet for a few seconds, "Gwen wants us to be friends again...you think we can ever give her that?"
"No." There was no hesitation in the answer, "Maybe you do want to make up, and maybe someday God or whoever else is out there will consider you redeemed, but I still remember. I remember Connors turning into a monster, I remember him gutting his wife while his kid watched. Him and everyone else this serum has touched, all those lives ruined...I can never forget that. Maybe you think I made it, but you were the one who dug it up after they buried it with me. This is your fault."
"Yeah..." His next breath was shaky. Peter didn't have to look at him to know that he was holding back tesrs, "Hah, well...guess she's going to be disappointed."
"Guess so..." A soft, self-loathing part of himself already whispered in his ear. What right did he have to judge? Him, who considered murderers and sadists his friends and defended them purely because they'd helped him? "...I'll play nice when Gwen's around, but we're not friends."
"Right..." Osborn coughed and straightened himself up, "So...why was Mary Jane there earlier? I wanted to ask, but..."
"The symbiote that Kasady bastard had. It's on her now."
"Wait, what? What do you mean?"
"Exactly what I said."
"No...how's that possible? Gwen killed that guy, she-"
"Kasady's dead, the symbiote - or at least a part of it - survived. Considering what we've seen Gwen to be capable of it honestly doesn't surprise me." Osborn made to ask another question before Peter's spider-sense suddenly blared. Something was wrong, "Get up, Osborn. We're gonna have company."
"What-"
His question was cut off when the fluorescents overhead suddenly dimmed, quickly being replaced by a dim red light that would've made it difficult for a normal man to see, "Someone cut the power." Osborn stood up in a rush and made his way to the door and opened it with far too much ease, "Cells are open too. Think this is a prison break?"
"I doubt it..."
As soon as Peter spoke the door opened with a loud crash and two goons carrying guns charged in, 'Those aren't the spooks...' Before Osborn could say anything Peter disappeared in a wisp of smoke. He didn't know if the two saw him, but either way their attention wasn't something he had to worry about it. Both of them practically rushed Osborn, shouting for him to get back in the cell.
They didn't much farther than 'hands behind your head!' before he re-appeared behind them. Peter grabbed the one on the left and slammed him into the ground with a painful crack. The one on the right tried to raise his lightshow gun to fire before a quick spray of webbing had him pinned to the clear wall of the containment cell.
His spider-sense blared again. Osborn moved first, grabbing the discarded gun and taking aim for the door. As soon the first hint of body armor appeared he fired thrice, hitting the next three goons that tried to come through the door. The smell of burning flesh was pungent, "...They're dead." Peter looked down at the still bodies and kicked at one of their sides. Whatever was in those guns packed a wallop.
"Shit..." Osborn looked down at the gun and let out a frustrated breath, "Damn it, those were S.I.L.K agents!"
"I figured that much out." He turned over one of the bodies and inspected the points of impact, "Cut clean through their armor..." Which meant he didn't want to try his luck getting hit by one of those things, gifts or no gifts, "We gotta get out of here." He picked up one of the compact guns in the shape of a pistol and stood, "We need to regroup with the others. I don't like our chances alone."
"Yeah...lead the way."
This was more familiar.
Laura jumped at one of the attackers and slashed through his right arm, letting her training guide her. Take out the hand holding the weapon first and then their mobility. The attacker barely had time to register that his arm was no longer connected to the rest of his body before she slashed his leg and forced him into the ground, cutting his throat with a quick flick of her wrist. They were trained like the machine men, but far more fragile.
"Get the weapon!" More attackers to her left. Laura snarled at the two gunmen and charged at the closest one. The space was confined, not like the forests where she used to train, but she'd been trained to adapt to her surroundings. She could survive this.
The first one fell when she stabbed both hands through his chest. Laura pulled her arms back from the fresh wounds and turned to face the remaining attacker. The masked man immediately raised his weapon and fired. She tried to jump to the side to avoid the laser, but she wasn't fast enough. The ray of heated energy cut through the left side of her stomach and the pain forced her to the ground, a growl of pain escaping her.
The attacker shifted the barrel of the weapon to her face. Before she could scramble away to recover a thin biocable attached itself to his side and pulled him back roughly, "Back off!" The hooded spider punched him in the face and webbed him to the floor. Not dead, not like the other two.
"Shit..." She knelt by Laura's side and inspected the wound, "It's...It's gonna be okay-"
"You can stop pissing yourself, girly. She's fine." Shadowcat pulled her back, "She's like me. We heal fast."
Laura groaned softly and the hooded spider watched as the burnt flesh healed itself, leaving no trace of the wound. Peter stood at her side and pulled her up into a shaky stand, "I'm fine..." She pushed him off and sheathed her claws. It was still an odd feeling, having someone who offered her a hand without expecting obedience in return.
"No need to play tough, kid. Just cause you heal fast doesn't mean it don't hurt," Peter said.
"God, stop babying her." Shadowcat rolled her eyes, "Come on, let's finish this guy up and get going."
"Wait, what do you mean by that?" the hooded spider asked, the mask of her eyes narrowed.
"What do you think?" Shadowcat willed her claws into existence and walked towards the prone figure. Laura smelled the fear emanating from him, "We finish what we start. 'Sides, it'll save space when S.H.I.E.L.D does clean up."
Shadowcat raised her right hand and prepared to stab down. The hooded spider breathed hard and caught her arm with a biocable, "He's disabled, we don't need to kill him!"
"Says who?" Shadowcat scoffed, "You don't wanna see it then look away. I ain't letting him get up later to shoot us in the back." She willed the claws on her left hand and again the hooded spider snagged it with a line of biocable. Shadowcat's smile finally dissipated in favor of a a light scowl, "You're a real pain in the ass, Spider-Girly, and I'm losing my patience."
"So am I." She pulled her back, "We're leaving him. Let's go."
Shadowcat didn't say anything at first, but Laura sensed her irritation. The stalemate didn't last long before the older weapon phased her hands through the webbing and, before the hooded spider could recover, manifested a claw on her right foot and stabbed the prone attacker through his jaw, "...Oops?" She gave the hooded spider a guiltless smirk, "My foot slipped."
Laura had sensed rage before, but this was something different. Her eyes narrowed and she watched as the hooded spider's suit moved and shifted in a chaotic wave and her eyes sharpened, "You son of a bitch."
"What, you think I'm scared of you?" Shadowcat asked, "Trust me, that monster suit you have? I've dealt with worse. But if you wanna try your luck then-"
"Alright, enough!" The other female spider interrupted, "We don't have time for this! You two wanna argue? Do it later!"
"Cindy, she just-"
"I saw! But right now we have more problems to deal with!"
Four more gunmen came charging down the hall. Before Laura could so much as raise a hand the spider with the scarf unholstered a pistol and shot four times, catching three of the attackers through the head while the remaining one was shot through his left knee. Peter immediately webbed him to the ground before he could reach for his weapon and kicked him in the head, knocking him out.
"God..." The hooded spider gasped.
"Nice." Shadowcat whistled, her smirk widening, "Least one of you knows how to clean up after themselves."
"Can it." The scarfed spider ejected the magazine and counted the remaining bullets, "Look, you two don't get along, I get it. Here's a compromise: any of us kill it's in self-defense, no freaking executions." She gave Shadowcat a pointed look. The other weapon threw up her hands flippantly in response, "I mean it. We have to work together if we wanna make it outta here."
"Tch...whatever you say, Spinny."
"Play nice, Kat," Peter said. He turned to look at the hooded spider, "I know you wanna go off on your own, but that ain't a good idea."
"Yeah, why not?" the hooded spider snapped back, "MJ, Peter and Harry are out there. I need to find them."
"You wanna try getting through the damn blockades S.H.I.E.L.D set up? Go ahead. But you should probably know they made it to keep powered people in and out, so that suit of yours ain't gonna do much good. Even my phasing's gonna be slowed down if I have to take all five of you."
"She has a point, Gwen," the scarfed spider said, "With the power out the best option we have is to try and turn it back on. We can disable the barricades afterwards and find Mary Jane and the others."
"...Fine."
The scarfed spider led the way. Laura kept her posture low and her claws unsheathed, wary of any possible attackers. Not that she had to: as soon as any new attackers showed themselves one of the others took them down. Peter always made sure that she was behind him, which both confused and irritated her. She could help, and her young age was only ever meant to deflect suspicion rather than cause hesitation among those who used her.
"Here." The scarfed spider tapped a hard to see door and pulled back a panel, "Should be able to open it up from here. Good news is we're gonna be able to move around easier once the barriers are down. Bad news is that means so can they."
"Trust me, that's more bad for them than it is for us." Shadowcat laughed. She enjoyed violence, that was something the facility didn't program into her; or at least that was what Laura assumed. She herself didn't enjoy violence, at least, "And hey, once the barriers are down Spider-Girlie can go be a big hero."
"Shut the hell up..."
It didn't take long. The four of them kept watch on the doorway while the scarfed spider used the computer. Laura split her attention between keeping guard on the perimeter and observing the others. Peter had his gun drawn and stood at the ready, the exact opposite of Shadowcat and the hooded spider. The former was leaning against the wall seemingly without a care while the latter spent more time glaring at Shadowcat than anything else.
"...I got it!"
The lights returned. Laura blocked her eyes briefly and let them adjust to the light, "Thank fuck..." the hooded the spider said, relief washing over in droves, "Alright, now we gotta find the others."
"You wanna do that? Fine. Me? I'm heading for the exit. S.H.I.E.L.D ain't paying me to be a bodyguard."
"Fine, I didn't ask for your help."
"No one's going anywhere," Peter said, "Kat, we need to make sure the others are alright. Help us."
"Why do you care so much, Petey? Getting attached to your clone?" Peter's eyes narrowed and he didn't answer. Shadowcat looked at him for a moment and threw her hands up in irritation, "Alright, fine! God, you're such a bleeding heart."
"I'll take that as a compliment." He smiled at that, albeit faintly.
They didn't get far before three more agents came to intercept them. Laura sniffed the air and narrowed her eyes, "Something is wrong..." she said softly, getting a nod from Peter in return. The agents looked different from the last ones. They didn't carry guns and their movements were rigid, like the machine men after their bodies finally began to reject their implants.
"Look out!" the scarfed spider screamed. Peter grabbed Laura with both arms and pushed her to the ground just before she saw a blast of something dark shoot overhead. They looked at one another for a fleeting moment before he pulled out his revolver and shot one of the agents through the head.
The agent stepped back slightly at the impact and remained standing, the wound at his forehead immediately closing. The hooded spider jumped to try and close the distance, managing to smack one of them to the ground before another blast of energy knocked her back, "Shit!" Her suit peeled back to expose skin before quickly reforming, "I know what this is!"
"Save it for later!" Shadowcat phased through the next attack and slashed at their legs. Again they remained standing until the scarfed spider kicked two of them into the ground, "These fuckers heal fast!"
"We have to restrain them!" the hooded spider screamed.
"Easier said than done, Stacy!" Peter shot another coming towards them and webbed him to the ground, which lasted all of two seconds before the attacker ripped away the webbing with ease. Laura jumped towards him and slashed his throat before she was knocked back by a sudden punch. Peter was at her side immediately, blocking her from the attacker's view, "This is insane..."
"Attacking them won't work!" The hooded spider jumped over a blast of energy and webbed the first agent to the wall, "We have to knock them out!" She punched him across the face, hard enough that Laura heard something crack even amidst the fighting.
"What do you think we're trying to do, Spider-Girlie?!"
Shadowcat impaled one of them through the eyes and twisted her hand around. Next to her the scarfed spider shot the third agent through his kneecaps and wrapped her arms around his neck in powerful grip to try and choke him into unconsciousness, "This...isn't working!" the agent moved back to slam her against the wall and she jumped, webbing him to the surface as she did.
"I've got an idea..."
Peter ran to the closest agent and webbed his mouth and nose shut. Laura immediately sensed his fear and she ran, impaling both of his arms into the floor. His struggles immediately worsened, though it didn't take long for him to weaken. She was too young for it, but she'd been taught the basics of suffocation already. All it took was ten seconds on average for the subjects to weaken and fall unconscious.
"They still need to breath!" Shadowcat said, "Clog their throats!"
The scarfed spider followed her advice and released four thick strings of webbing into the second agent's mouth. The hooded spider hesitated and Laura heard her heart beat faster. She was scared.
Shadowcat did it for her. The other weapon grabbed a handful of webbing from the wall and stuffed it down the struggling agent's throat before covering his mouth with both hands. He tried to attack, tried to push her back, but all of his attacks phased through her. Partial intangibility; only her hands were solid now, though Laura doubted the agent realized that in his panicking state.
Eventually his struggled ceased and he lied still, remaining upright only due to the webs keeping him pinned to the wall. Shadowcat stepped back and gave the hooded spider an unamused glare, "God, you're fucking useless, aren't you? Tell you what, next time you wanna commit suicide could you do it when there aren't people relying on you?"
"Fuck off.."
"What's done is done," the scarfed spider said, "Come on, we gotta find the others before these guys do."
"Yeah..." The hooded spider nodded, "Let's go..."
This was fucked.
They'd been lucky enough so far, only running into unaware gunmen that she managed to tackle into unconsciousness, but their luck had finally run out. Mary Jane saw one of the intruders aiming his gun at a S.H.I.E.L.D agent flat on the ground, his hands and legs cuffed together. She couldn't stop herself from crying out in shock, which immediately drew his attention.
Mary Jane ducked behind the wall and barely avoided the laser blast that soared over her head, "Fuck..." Her breaths came out in rapid gasps and her heart beat wildly, "Shit, shit, shit!" She pressed herself harder against the surface of the metal. This was too much. A few days ago she froze when she saw a fucking pistol and now she was being shot at with lasers that could melt through steel!
Not to mention her current 'partner'.
He - Bullseye, he called himself - laughed, "Is that the best you got?" He pulled out a paperclip from his pocket and threw it against the wall. Mary Jane was about to ask him what the hell he was doing before the attacker's gun suddenly clicked ineffectually, "Aww, having problems, buddy?" Another paperclip was thrown; this time through his eye, somehow. The agent fell back and screamed, clutching at his injured eye with both hands.
"How did..." Mary Jane said softly.
"Man, the standard for agents has really gone downhill." He unlocked the cuffs and pulled the S.H.I.E.L.D agent up into a shaky stand. He saved him, Mary Jane noted numbly, "Might wanna get out of here, pal. It's gonna be a splatter zone."
"I...okay." The S.H.I.E.L.D agent looked down at the bloodstained prison jumpsuit before turning away, "Thanks."
"Everybody gets one." He waved the operative away cheerily and turned his attention to the whimpering intruder, "Let's get a look at at that face of yours." He pulled the agent's mask away. His right eye was covered in a thick pool of blood and Mary Jane saw tears and mucus mixing in together with every cry of pain he gave, "What do you say, big guy? Wanna go for the other eye?"
It was disgusting, everything rational and sane inside her told her it was. He was dragging out the agent's pain and he enjoyed it. She should've been turning away in disgust. Instead her lips curled up into a smile and she moaned.
He didn't hear her, but the shame that washed over her was more than enough to jolt her out of whatever haze she was experiencing, 'Ha, now there's someone who knows to have fun!' The symbiote screeched at the back of her mind, 'I should've gone for him instead!
"Stop doing this..."
'Doing what? You mean the wetness in your meaty human parts?' It laughed, 'That's not from me, little red! That's all you!'
"No!" Bullseye snapped back to look at her with a questioning look. Mary Jane took a deep breath and stood up straight, hands clenched into tight fists at her sides, "He's down. You don't need to torture him."
"Well yeah, I don't need to, but..." He pulled out another paperclip and dangled it in the air in front of the helpless agent. He screamed again and tried to back away, "It's so much fun! You should try it!"
"No." She grabbed his arm and pulled him away, "Knock him out if you want, but not...this." She tried her utter damndest to ignore the part of her that wanted to agree with him, the part that wanted to watch the agent squirm and beg for mercy that she wasn't going to give. She wasn't going to give in to that thing.
"Fine..." He pouted like a kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar. It was fucking bizarre, "What do you wanna do with him? That wound's pretty nasty so knocking him out will probably kill him anyway once he bleeds out. It's why I wanted to have some fun first."
She didn't get to answer. The bleeding agent suddenly screamed, but it wasn't from pain. Mary Jane snapped her head to him and stepped back when she saw his entire body changing color, his skin going from a pale pink to blackish blue. The agent's screams died down to something soft and he stood, his eye quickly healing itself till there was no trace of the wound.
"...Shit," Bullseye said next to her.
The next moment was pure agony. Mary Jane barely had time to raise her hands before the entire hall was engulfed in a wave of dark energy. Her back smacked against the wall painfully and she fell onto the ground, whimpering in pain all the while. Through blurry eyes she caught sight of the agent walking towards the Bullseye's prone form, energy dancing across his palms.
He was going to kill him.
"No..." She reached a hand out feebly. Everything hurt and her body refused to cooperate, "Come on..." She had powers, she could...
'Do what, little red? Freeze like you did all those nights ago?' The monster chuckled, 'You're going to die here.'
"So will you..."
'There's a chance I can survive, maybe use your corpse like a suit.' Despite its words she heard the hesitation; she knew her own voice well enough to tell.
"You're...lying. You don't know for sure..." She clenched her hands, "Help me..."
'What, now you need my help? After refusing me time and again?'
"I need you..." It was painful to admit, after so long of wanting to get rid of it, "I'm begging you...help me so we can survive." They needed each other to live through this. She wasn't strong enough to fight that thing on her own, "Please..."
It didn't answer, but the warmth that spread across her body was enough of a reply. The red flesh covered her entire body and she stood, the pain from her back fading into a dull ache. The agent turned to face her, and his look of surprise was brief before she charged. Her left arm changed into an axe and she sliced his hand clean off, "Die!" She impaled him against the wall with her other hand. It was more than enough to kill him.
Which made the next punch come as a surprise. Mary Jane stumbled back at the hit and blocked the next hit, "What the..." His hand was back. Mary Jane gaped down at the reformed limb in shock until another blast of energy forced her back. She fell on her knees and glared up at the photo-negative agent.
He only managed two steps before a makeshift shiv impaled itself at the back of his head, "Forgetting about me?" Bullseye held onto the wall with both hands, mouth raised in a strained smirk. He was flagging, "Come on, big guy. Let's finish what we started."
The agent turned away from her and she acted. Ignoring any hesitation she reformed her hand into a blade sliced his neck as hard as she could. The fleshy blade cut through half of his neck before it stopped, 'He's healing.' The monster said. Mary Jane lost feeling in her limbs and could only watch her arms move on their own. The clawed tips of her remaining hand pushed through the gaps of flesh and pulled.
Even without being in control she felt the strain. Seconds of agonized screams passed before more of the flesh ripped away and the head was finally separated from the rest of the body. Mary Jane watched her hands dangle the dismembered head almost playfully before tossing it down the length of the hallway, far away from the now-normal colored body of the agent.
"Huh...damn." Bullseye whistled, obviously impressed, "You're just full of surprises, aren't you, Red?"
Feeling returned to her body quickly and the suit slipped away till she was left with nothing but her bloodstained jacket, yoga pants and sneakers, "Yeah..." She took a shuddering breath and felt torn between the urge to cheer or vomit, "Let's...just get out of here."
Peter was an idiot.
When he first saw the agents using the same kooky 'gifts' Martin had he'd hesitated, wondered maybe if he'd somehow survived that shot to the heart and come back for revenge. A stupid thought. He watched his body fall into the dirt and he doubted that he'd get unlucky three times and find out Martin came back from the dead. Last he checked he didn't have a god trying to pull his strings.
Fighting them wasn't too difficult. Whatever gifts allowed him to hurt Martin was still there and just being near him caused their powers to weaken. Not enough to make them harmless, but enough that shooting them in the head or gut wasn't just something they could shrug off. And, much as he hated to admit it, Osborn was a damn good shot. Guess that army training went somewhere.
And then he went and messed it all up.
One of the bastards managed to get one last blast off before he finally expired and Osborn was right in the center of it. Peter didn't know what possessed him to push the bastard out of the way and take the hit, but now he had to face the consequences.
Consequences that included his eyes being seared shut and his legs getting blasted with enough force to damn near cripple him.
"Rrgh, damn it!" Peter fell on his knees and covered his eyes with both hands, a scream escaping despite his best efforts. Just barely he heard Osborn popping off two more shots before he was at his side, holding him steady.
"Peter! Fuck, are you-"
"I-I'm fine!" He pushed him off and tried to stand, but he didn't get far before his spider-sense rang and he just barely avoided colliding headfirst into the fall, "Fuck..." He couldn't open his eyes. Taking a deep breath, he tried to force his eyelids apart before the pain made them close again. Not that it mattered; in the brief glimpse he got all he saw was blackness.
He was blind.
"Peter...you're-"
"I know!" Peter grit his teeth. He doubted it was any more permanent than the rest of his injuries, but right now that was of little comfort. Not when they were still in the middle of a damn assault, "Shit..."
"W-We need to get you help."
"Yeah, no shit..." He stepped back and grabbed his gun in a shaky grip. It still hurt, "We...you have to lead the way."
"Fine. Just lean on me, I can-"
"No..." He shook his head, "Spider-sense warns me...I don't need-"
"God, stop being so fucking stubborn!" Osborn grabbed his arm and wrapped his arm around his shoulders, "You can hate me when we're not being shot at, alright? For now just let me help you."
Peter didn't answer, which Osborn took as a cue to start dragging his useless hide along. All Peter could do was listen to his spider-sense and warn Osborn when someone was coming around the corner. At least he still weakened their powers, so he wasn't completely useless.
"We're almost there..." Osborn said, "Just a little more-"
Spider-sense.
"Next corner!" he shouted. Osborn turned to the left and fired the gun, only to be met with a dull click; either jammed or it finally ran out of ammo. Peter didn't even have time to curse before Osborn threw him aside, the smell of burning meat coming soon after. Osborn screamed out a string of obscenities and Peter quickly realized that he must have taken the hit for both of them. He guessed they were both idiots like that.
His spider-sense blared again and he followed, rolling to the side to avoid the next barrage of laser fire. He aimed his wrist to where he heard the muted blast, released a large net of webbing and tugged as hard as he could as soon the web made contact. Peter heard something metallic clatter to the ground and he didn't know whether to laugh or curse that he'd somehow managed to to grab the bastard's gun despite his blindness.
He didn't have time to curse his schizophrenic luck. Peter released another burst of webbing at the agent and jumped for the discarded weapon. It wasn't the most graceful of landings, but the feeling of the gun in his hands was more than worth it. Peter aimed where he heard the bastard struggling before he pulled the trigger, again and again, until whatever the damn thing had for a magazine finally ran out.
The smell of burning flesh was worse now with nothing else to distract him. Peter threw the gun aside and panted, too tired to even make his way to where Osborn lay.
Two pairs of footsteps reached his ears while his spider-sense remained silent, "Peter! Harry!" Mary's voice reached his ears. Before he could say anything back a pair of hands grabbed him by the shoulders and propped him up on the wall. Not Mary's; they were too big and rough, "Hey, be careful with him!"
"Trust me, I'm being as careful as I can!" Bullseye...Peter couldn't stop himself from smiling. It was a relief to hear his voice, as messed up as this entire situation was, "Shit, kid...this ain't exactly the reunion I was hoping for."
"Sorry to disappoint you..." Peter laughed softly. He felt Mary prop up Harry next to him, "Mary, is he alright?'
"There's a nasty burn at his side." He could practically see her scowl, "What do we do?"
"I've had worse..." Osborn said weakly... "Peter-"
"Save it till we get out of here, Osborn."
Thankfully luck seemed to finally go their way for once. More footsteps came and soon enough the rest of their little group found them. Gwen screamed out a curse as soon as she saw them and immediately cupped his face, "Peter..." Her fingertips brushed against his jaw. Next to him Cindy covered up Harry's wound with some web; or at least that's what he assumed she did gvien what he heard, "Peter, you're-"
"Let's just get out of here..." They were close to the exit already, "We can talk later, okay?"
"Alright, just...just stay close to me. I won't let anything happen to you."
Their good luck continued and soon enough they managed to find themselves in a makeshift S.H.I.E.L.D recovery camp inside another seemingly abandoned building. Peter still remembered the feeling of heated light on his skin and the screams of the agents for them to freeze and put their hands above their heads as soon as they went through the exit. Peter just wondered where the hell they were while they were fighting through that maze of a facility.
Peter listened to the doctor rattle off about proper bandaging without a care. His wounds would heal as soon as he went to sleep, anyway. After promising to take the proper amount of drugs the doctor left to talk to the others who got injured.
He wasn't alone for long. Peter smelled the dried blood in air long before he heard Bullseye's voice, "Hah, you look like hell." He scraped the chair roughly and sat in across from him.
"Speak for yourself." He smiled weakly.
"What, you don't like it? I think prison red's my color." He laughed softly, "...Hey, you alright?"
"I'm blind, Bullseye. Even if it's temporary I'm not exactly feeling my best." He leaned back on the bed and sighed, "What about you? I didn't even realize they took you in."
"Yeah, they just came into my place dragged me to a cell in my pajamas. Thank God I didn't have company that night, huh?"
"So...what are you going to do now?"
"Now? Well, gotta catch up on my schedule. You know there was a guy pimping out underaged girls I was gonna to meet? Planned to feed him his own balls and everything before my old bosses got in the way. It's gonna be a pain in the ass to track him down."
"Could you save that if arresting him isn't an option?"
"Aww, come on, don't be a spoilsport! First you and then that redhead chick!" He paused, "I gotta say, though, she knows how to put the hurt out. You shoulda seen her, kid. She ripped off one of those agent's heads with her bare hands. And I thought you were strong."
"...She did?" That was...worrying.
"Yeah, she did. She felt bad about it, though. Dunno why." He laughed, though Peter only felt a sense of relief. Guilt was good, at least for her, "So, whaddaya say we cut out of here, find a good bar?"
"Tempting, but I'd rather stay put for now." He leaned forward and squeezed his shoulder, "Make sure to call me if you need anything."
"Ditto, kid."
They said their goodbyes and Peter leaned back on the bed till his back touched the wall. They gave him a tent all to his own, but it was little relief right now. He heard them all through the flaps, heard all their footsteps and voices blending into one another into an ungodly cacophony that made him want to bash his brains out. "Shit..." He covered his ears. It was bad here, but he knew it would only be a hundred times worse out there in the open.
Footsteps came to the front of the tent before suddenly stopping. Peter waited for a few seconds before he spoke up, "...I know you're there."
"Sorry." Gwen's voice reached his ears. He could almost see her smiling sheepishly after that, "Didn't know if you were asleep."
"Can't sleep with all the racket."
"Racket? Wait, are your senses acting up again? Is there anything I can do?'
"Just stay here with me..." It was sappy and he knew it. Still, having someone distract him was better than nothing. Gwen hesitated briefly before she sat at his side, close enough for their legs to touch, "...You alright?"
"Yeah, just...pissed off at Shadowcat. You don't need to hear it." She let out a frustrated breath, "She and Spider-Man already left with that kid. Said that none of them were injured so they didn't wanna hang around."
"Huh..." And here he was hoping to talk to his 'brother'. Maybe next time, "...What about Osborn? He took a nasty hit."
"He's asleep now. Cindy's keeping an eye on him." He was suddenly reminded of their earlier conversation, "...What's wrong? You look like you swallowed a sour grape."
"Osborn likes Cindy..."
He didn't see it, but it was obvious that she was gaping, "Um...what? How do you know that?"
"He told me." He had to force it out, but he told him.
"Huh...well, Cindy told me she doesn't trust him."
"He knows that. Guess he's just an idiot." He wasn't the only one. Being this close together with Gwen, it was just another reminder. How long could they keep this up? Pretend to be the happy couple when he killed people behind her back and risked her mother's life every time he resisted Murdock's pulls? Something would give eventually and he didn't like the odds on it not being him.
"I wish you two would get along..."
"It's never gonna happen, Gwen. I'm sorry."
"Yeah, I guess I can't be too surprised. Guess I should just be happy that you two aren't killing each other." She might've meant it as a joke, but the bitterness in her tone was clear as day. Before he could say anything to cheer her up her phone suddenly buzzed, "Huh...it's Gayle."
"What'd she say?" Though he already had a good idea considering what she was like.
"She's asking how the testing went...and she's wondering if I'm interesting in going out to a concert."
Despite everything Peter laughed, "Looks like you've got another admirer, Gwen."
"What, her? No way." Gwen snorted.
"...Seriously? You're just in denial now."
"Not what I meant." She clicked her tongue, "It's just...with Kate she liked 'Gwen Stacy', but Gayle has a celeb crush on Spider-Woman. It's like when a tween gets a crush on Johnny Storm; they're just enamored with the fantasy." Half of this city was, from what he gathered, "She doesn't really know me and pretty soon the paint's gonna chip off. So I'm not really in the mood to humor her."
"Yeah, I don't blame you..."
They sat there in silence after that, just relishing in each other's warmth. Peter let his body relax and faced upwards, allowing himself to calm down for the first time today. They had another brush with death and survived. He could only hope their streak could keep going.
"So...you healthy enough to leave?" Gwen asked, "Cause I wanted to get back home soon."
"What?" He looked in her direction.
"Well, I'm obviously not leaving you alone. You're blind, Peter. You're coming back with me."
"Blind, not helpless," he replied, "...Where's Mary?"
"She went back ahead of us. They checked her for injuries and didn't find anything." She held his hand and squeezed, "Is something wrong?"
"She killed someone earlier. I know it's not her first time, but..." Was it hypocritical for him to worry about it? He'd rebuffed Gwen more times than he could count at this point, and it wasn't like he had much more experience than Mary when he took his first life both here and in his memories.
"Yeah, that's worrying me, too..." He heard her lick her lips, "We'll talk with her later, okay? Right now all I know is that Janet's medicine is working so she's not going to lose control."
"I hope so..."
Gwen's breath slowed and her hand trailed up his arm. Soon enough she cupped his face and pulled him into a gentle kiss, the contact so soft that he could've pulled away at the slightest twitch. They continued like that for a few more seconds before eventually separating, "...What was that for?"
"Guess I just didn't want to end the day on a bad note." She laughed softly, "Come on, let's get outta here."
"Is something wrong, Helen?"
Helen looked up from her coffee and smiled faintly at her companion, "Nothing's wrong, Cindy," she said, though it was clear by the doubt on the other woman's face that she didn't believe her, "Really, I'm fine. It's just...a lot of things going on, you know?"
"Not really, but who am I to second-guess the woman who stumbled out of the grave?" Helen laughed at the poor joke and took a sip of her coffee. It was honestly a miracle that she'd run into Cindy the way she did that night. Anyone else would've just looked away and pretended it wasn't their problem, but she helped her to the station and even paid for her fare. Helen doubted she would've made it back home on her own.
Home...
She shook her head. It was the house she'd lived in for almost a decade, but was it still her home now? When her daughter was a woman fully grown and her husband finally moved on from the grief of burying her? Jessica urged her to stay, but she couldn't. Not when she had to be reminded of how much she'd missed and all that she could never have again.
She was supposed to be apartment hunting, though she knew it would've been futile. In the end the idea of actually leaving was too hard for her to imagine and she'd be right back home, smiling like nothing was wrong. It didn't help that Ben and May offered to house her while Gwen offered to pay any sort of rent she wanted for the next year (or ten...). They just wanted her to be happy and she didn't have the heart to tell them that it wasn't working.
Which made her run-in with Cindy a relief. She'd caught her at a cafe and the younger woman invited her in for a coffee. My treat, she said, to celebrate you finding your family.
"Wanna tell me? I'm a good listener." Cindy smiled.
"I..." Helen took a deep breath, "It's complicated."
"What isn't? We live in a complicated world." Yeah, a world where she came back from the dead and her daughter was an honest to God superhero, "Hit me."
"It's..." She licked her lips nervously, "If I told you I came back from the dead, would you believe me?"
"I'm a woman of science, Len." Helen blinked at the sudden nickname, "Logic would dictate that coming back from the dead is impossible, but look at the world we live in. A world where radiation turned a dying woman into an green skinned amazon and an altered spider lets you cling to walls and jump 50 feet into the air. So let's say I'm keeping an open mind to the claim."
"Right, well...hope your mind stays open."
So Helen told her everything, excepting a few details like Gwen's alter ego and little Peter's own brush with death. Helen knew she should've kept her mouth shut, but the ear of a sympathetic stranger was too tempting to pass up. Goerge, Gwen, Ben and May, they wanted to help her, but they were too afraid of hurting her with whatever they said. She didn't need that.
"Sounds complicated." Cindy took a small sip of her cappuccino, "You mentioned your husband finding someone else?"
"Yeah. Jessica Jones..." She pursed her lips. Helen didn't hate her - she couldn't - but she couldn't deny there was a certain resentment that bubbled. Maybe if she never got together with George Helen could've made a go of it again. She knew it was wrong, that George deserved to be happy instead of pining after the memory of a dead woman, but she couldn't help it.
"Well...I can't say I have much advice for you. I mean the only relationships I've had are casual."
"Yeah, you mentioned that Matthew guy." Apparently he was a lawyer, though Cindy didn't explain much.
"That's the one. We're usually too busy with our own thing, though." She checked her time and frowned, "Listen, I gotta go soon. Wanna meet up again in a couple of days? Same time?"
"Sure." She still had to plan for Gwen's surprise birthday party tomorrow, so at least it was something to keep her mind occupied.
Helen waved goodbye and Cindy watched her until she disappeared into the crowd, "God, she's a fucking mess." She finished off her drink and tossed the styrofoam cup into the trash before leaving the cafe altogether. Matt said she was insurance to keep Stacy away from the grudge match he and her boyfriend had going, but it was obvious he just wanted to see both Stacy and Parker squirm. Not that she blamed him for that.
She walked into an alley and flexed her gloved hands, darkforce energy thrumming across her fingers. Experimenting on the priest's body took weeks, but she finally managed some tangible results. It would make it harder for S.H.I.E.L.D to repel her agents' attack, at least, even if it was just a test and a distraction.
Still...
"Jessica Jones, huh?" She heard about her on the news. The superpowered vigilante P.I who had a reputation for being a drunken jackass. No costume either, which made people doubt she was legit. Helen tried to hide it, but there was definitely some resentment there. Cindy held off on taking her before - always something else to do - but now...
Well, anything to help a friend, right?
Yeah...that last bit is totally Helen's fault
She really should've known better than to rant to strangers about her problems; you never know if they might be recently empowered terrorist leaders who're looking for excuses to experiment on people. So yeah, Peter's (temporarily) blind, MJ let Carnage out to save herself, Gwen's pissed off at Shadowcat, Harry's injured and Jessica's very likely to be kidnapped.
All in all a typical day.
Questions:
1. So I just realized something. Despite Ben and May being Peter's surrogate parents he gets a hilariously small amount of interactions with them. Should I add more talks and whatnot between the three or do you guys think it's justified due to his awkward relationship and identity issues that they don't really talk to one another?
2. Following on the discussion above, who do you guys think is the most messed up character among he good guys' side? Conversely, who's the most stable/least fucked up? I'm just curious.
3. So where do we go next chapter? We either continue the main story (which is the beginning of the Jack arc), do that Lana omake (not 'canon' to the rest of the story) or we take a break and have more Wolverine family shenanigans (I promise not to rip off scenes from Logan this time). As always, pick your poison.
Anyway, the amount of votes for main story v. the Lana omake was actually pretty close, which was a bit surprising. I definitely never expected Lana to appeal to the audience as much as she did when I first introduced her.
So I gave the chapter to my friend again and she made two funny comments: first she commented that Cindy's probably the most fucked up character in the story given her behavior and issues that she refuses to acknowledge. By contrast she stated that Shadowcat is one of the least fucked up by virtue of her not having angst or issues about who she is.
She also likened the story to the Isekai (taken to another world to be a badass) genre that's saturated anime nowadays. Though she did state that it was only a thin connection: Noir isn't the biggest badass (he's pretty low on the Super totem pole), he doesn't have a harem (the only ones who consider a relationship are Gwen and Lana), he doesn't win effortlessly (just check the Jack arc and his rivalry with Matt) and being 'trapped' in Earth-65 has arguably made his situation far worse (the entire story...).
Side Note - Currently watching Jessica Jones S2 and the themes of addiction and desire to be special are very appealing to me. That and showing how society reacts to the Powered living among them. While I can't do much with it now, I can definitely explore those themes in V2, especially given that the year long time skip between the volumes allows the status quo to change around a bit.
Chapter 106: Nothing Goes Well
"What the hell's going between you and Cindy?"
There were better places to be having this conversation than on the opposite sides of reinforced glass, but Peter was never one for good timing. Osborn's head snapped up at the sudden question, doing his damnedest to keep his expression unreadable.
It didn't work. He could practically see the shock across his face.
"Wh-What?" he said. Despite the inches of clear glass between them his voice carried through without any muffling. Peter was just glad they weren't put in the same cell. It was bad enough something from him was going inside Osborn, he didn't want to be in the same confined space while it was happening, "I just...that's random. What do you mean by that?"
"You know what I'm talking about." Peter's mouth twitched. The bastard was stalling, "The way you were acting around her...something's going on."
"Is this really the time for this conversation?"
"Only reason you'd hesitate is if you had something to hide." Peter scoffed, "Out with with, Osborn. I can find out from you or from Cin, and something tells me that her version's not gonna be so flattering for you."
"You're a real piece of work, you know that?" Peter didn't bother to respond to that. He was well aware of how he was, thank you very much, "Why the hell are you even asking?"
"Because I don't trust you and I care about Cin." He knew she could take care of herself, but he couldn't let it go. Despite everything she trusted too much and risked her life for people who didn't deserve her help. Just like Gwen, "So give me an answer, before I stop being so polite."
"Christ, you're such an asshole." A soft, bitter laugh escaped the former soldier, "...We're sleeping together."
"I figured that out as soon as Spider-Man's kid opened her trap," he replied, "That's not it. Why'd you want her to come with us?" Anyone else would've called him paranoid, but he'd learned to trust his gut instinct; and right now it was screaming at him.
"Maybe I just don't like the idea of being stuck in the same room alone with you?" Osborn asked back sarcastically.
"Then why not call on Gwen? God knows she's the only one in that room that cares about you."
"So you love to remind me." Osborn crossed his arms and looked away, turning his back to Peter and masking his face from view. A silence settled over them briefly before Osborn finally spoke again, "...I like her."
"...Great." Peter pinched the bridge of his nose and sucked in a frustrated breath. He wasn't so naive to think that Osborn meant to add 'as a friend' to the end of that declaration, "Does she know?"
"Hell if I know." He shrugged, "I didn't exactly tell her. She kinda hates me, you know?" He tilted his head back to look at him, mouth curled up in a sardonic smile, "Just my luck, huh? The first girl I fall in love with I tried to kill and the second hates my guts and is using me to blackmail my dad for favors."
"Why do you like her?" It was a bizarre sight, talking about their fucked up 'love lives' while they were stuck in isolation cells, but considering their life it felt par for the course, "She's made it no secret she's not fond of you."
"Yeah, don't I know it?" he replied, "It's just...well, it's hard to explain. The past ten years were complete shit for her: trapped in a bunker, tortured by the Cindy Moon of this place, forced to work for S.H.I.E.L.D...you name it. But despite all that she still puts on a costume and helps people, still gives a crap about strangers when she could just leave them and care only about herself."
"...She reminds you of Gwen."
"Ha, maybe, but I don't think so. At least not completely." He sighed, "Gwen...I tried to kill her because I wanted - needed - someone to blame for not speaking up when you and her fought that night at prom. If I hadn't frozen, hadn't just watched like a damn idiot, maybe you wouldn't have died. So I blamed Spider-Woman for it." He laughed, "At least that's what I told myself. Like you said, I wanted to feel important."
"The kid was dead the second he injected himself." Was he trying to comfort him or just stating a fact? Peter had no idea.
"Yeah, guess so." He frowned, "Gwen forgave me. After everything I did, everything I blamed her for, she still looks at me like I'm the same guy who she made friends with that day at lunch. It made my feelings for her worse, but a part me...I wanted her to hate me. If she did then I could make myself feel important - feel like the victim - again. Instead she never once brings it up, not even when I'm at my worst."
"How does this go back to Cindy?"
"She's not like Gwen. She reminds me of what I did and tells me that I'm a coward because I let my dad solve my problems for me." He pursed his lips, "If it was just that then maybe I'd hate her, but she...pushes me. She'll complain and tell me that she doesn't really care, but the only reason I even started trying to make real amends is because she pushed me to."
"You're using her as a crutch, Osborn..."
"Always seeing the worst in me, huh?" He clicked his tongue, "Maybe you have a point, but it's none of your business. I don't plan to hurt Cindy and I doubt I could even if I wanted to. I'm just glad she's helping me with this. She doesn't have to, and it'e be better for her if I never shaped up. More blackmail material for my dad."
"Do you honestly think she'll ever reciprocate?"
"I doubt it, but hey, look at you and Gwen." Even without seeing his face Peter could practically feel the smirk that came afterwards, "I maybe be worse than you, but we're both killers with blood on our hands and neither of us are going to be clean any time soon. Despite that Gwen refuses to give up on you and somehow the two of you are together. I figure anything's possible."
"You really are insane..." Peter laughed and pressed his back against the wall, sliding down to sit as he did. He had a point there, much as Peter hated to admit it, "Fine, keep pining after her. I know she's not stupid enough to do anything about it."
Osborn sat down opposite him and tapped the clear glass between them, "...We never liked each other, did we?"
"You and the kid? Probably not," Peter replied, "When he first saw you he thought of you as just another weirdo in a school full of em. In fact he was relieved. Another loser to take the attention of him so maybe they'd bully you instead of him." God, that kid - he - was a real piece of shit, "When Gwen suggested they make friends with you he had mixed feelings. Guy was a possessive little bastard."
"It wasn't all bad. I remember our sleepovers, playing games and devising D&D campaigns till midnight. Or did you or him or both of you just pretend to have fun then?"
"It wasn't pretend, at least not completely. He was happy that he found someone he could share all that with besides Gwen, but..." He took a deep breath, "He resented the fact that you weren't scared and withdrawn like him. You liked all the same stuff he did and he hated that you didn't try to hide it, that you didn't even pretend to be ashamed like he was. He wanted to drag you down through the mud to his level, and after you told him you liked Gwen...well, the rest is history."
"Hmm..." They were quiet for a few seconds, "Gwen wants us to be friends again...you think we can ever give her that?"
"No." There was no hesitation in the answer, "Maybe you do want to make up, and maybe someday God or whoever else is out there will consider you redeemed, but I still remember. I remember Connors turning into a monster, I remember him gutting his wife while his kid watched. Him and everyone else this serum has touched, all those lives ruined...I can never forget that. Maybe you think I made it, but you were the one who dug it up after they buried it with me. This is your fault."
"Yeah..." His next breath was shaky. Peter didn't have to look at him to know that he was holding back tesrs, "Hah, well...guess she's going to be disappointed."
"Guess so..." A soft, self-loathing part of himself already whispered in his ear. What right did he have to judge? Him, who considered murderers and sadists his friends and defended them purely because they'd helped him? "...I'll play nice when Gwen's around, but we're not friends."
"Right..." Osborn coughed and straightened himself up, "So...why was Mary Jane there earlier? I wanted to ask, but..."
"The symbiote that Kasady bastard had. It's on her now."
"Wait, what? What do you mean?"
"Exactly what I said."
"No...how's that possible? Gwen killed that guy, she-"
"Kasady's dead, the symbiote - or at least a part of it - survived. Considering what we've seen Gwen to be capable of it honestly doesn't surprise me." Osborn made to ask another question before Peter's spider-sense suddenly blared. Something was wrong, "Get up, Osborn. We're gonna have company."
"What-"
His question was cut off when the fluorescents overhead suddenly dimmed, quickly being replaced by a dim red light that would've made it difficult for a normal man to see, "Someone cut the power." Osborn stood up in a rush and made his way to the door and opened it with far too much ease, "Cells are open too. Think this is a prison break?"
"I doubt it..."
As soon as Peter spoke the door opened with a loud crash and two goons carrying guns charged in, 'Those aren't the spooks...' Before Osborn could say anything Peter disappeared in a wisp of smoke. He didn't know if the two saw him, but either way their attention wasn't something he had to worry about it. Both of them practically rushed Osborn, shouting for him to get back in the cell.
They didn't much farther than 'hands behind your head!' before he re-appeared behind them. Peter grabbed the one on the left and slammed him into the ground with a painful crack. The one on the right tried to raise his lightshow gun to fire before a quick spray of webbing had him pinned to the clear wall of the containment cell.
His spider-sense blared again. Osborn moved first, grabbing the discarded gun and taking aim for the door. As soon the first hint of body armor appeared he fired thrice, hitting the next three goons that tried to come through the door. The smell of burning flesh was pungent, "...They're dead." Peter looked down at the still bodies and kicked at one of their sides. Whatever was in those guns packed a wallop.
"Shit..." Osborn looked down at the gun and let out a frustrated breath, "Damn it, those were S.I.L.K agents!"
"I figured that much out." He turned over one of the bodies and inspected the points of impact, "Cut clean through their armor..." Which meant he didn't want to try his luck getting hit by one of those things, gifts or no gifts, "We gotta get out of here." He picked up one of the compact guns in the shape of a pistol and stood, "We need to regroup with the others. I don't like our chances alone."
"Yeah...lead the way."
This was more familiar.
Laura jumped at one of the attackers and slashed through his right arm, letting her training guide her. Take out the hand holding the weapon first and then their mobility. The attacker barely had time to register that his arm was no longer connected to the rest of his body before she slashed his leg and forced him into the ground, cutting his throat with a quick flick of her wrist. They were trained like the machine men, but far more fragile.
"Get the weapon!" More attackers to her left. Laura snarled at the two gunmen and charged at the closest one. The space was confined, not like the forests where she used to train, but she'd been trained to adapt to her surroundings. She could survive this.
The first one fell when she stabbed both hands through his chest. Laura pulled her arms back from the fresh wounds and turned to face the remaining attacker. The masked man immediately raised his weapon and fired. She tried to jump to the side to avoid the laser, but she wasn't fast enough. The ray of heated energy cut through the left side of her stomach and the pain forced her to the ground, a growl of pain escaping her.
The attacker shifted the barrel of the weapon to her face. Before she could scramble away to recover a thin biocable attached itself to his side and pulled him back roughly, "Back off!" The hooded spider punched him in the face and webbed him to the floor. Not dead, not like the other two.
"Shit..." She knelt by Laura's side and inspected the wound, "It's...It's gonna be okay-"
"You can stop pissing yourself, girly. She's fine." Shadowcat pulled her back, "She's like me. We heal fast."
Laura groaned softly and the hooded spider watched as the burnt flesh healed itself, leaving no trace of the wound. Peter stood at her side and pulled her up into a shaky stand, "I'm fine..." She pushed him off and sheathed her claws. It was still an odd feeling, having someone who offered her a hand without expecting obedience in return.
"No need to play tough, kid. Just cause you heal fast doesn't mean it don't hurt," Peter said.
"God, stop babying her." Shadowcat rolled her eyes, "Come on, let's finish this guy up and get going."
"Wait, what do you mean by that?" the hooded spider asked, the mask of her eyes narrowed.
"What do you think?" Shadowcat willed her claws into existence and walked towards the prone figure. Laura smelled the fear emanating from him, "We finish what we start. 'Sides, it'll save space when S.H.I.E.L.D does clean up."
Shadowcat raised her right hand and prepared to stab down. The hooded spider breathed hard and caught her arm with a biocable, "He's disabled, we don't need to kill him!"
"Says who?" Shadowcat scoffed, "You don't wanna see it then look away. I ain't letting him get up later to shoot us in the back." She willed the claws on her left hand and again the hooded spider snagged it with a line of biocable. Shadowcat's smile finally dissipated in favor of a a light scowl, "You're a real pain in the ass, Spider-Girly, and I'm losing my patience."
"So am I." She pulled her back, "We're leaving him. Let's go."
Shadowcat didn't say anything at first, but Laura sensed her irritation. The stalemate didn't last long before the older weapon phased her hands through the webbing and, before the hooded spider could recover, manifested a claw on her right foot and stabbed the prone attacker through his jaw, "...Oops?" She gave the hooded spider a guiltless smirk, "My foot slipped."
Laura had sensed rage before, but this was something different. Her eyes narrowed and she watched as the hooded spider's suit moved and shifted in a chaotic wave and her eyes sharpened, "You son of a bitch."
"What, you think I'm scared of you?" Shadowcat asked, "Trust me, that monster suit you have? I've dealt with worse. But if you wanna try your luck then-"
"Alright, enough!" The other female spider interrupted, "We don't have time for this! You two wanna argue? Do it later!"
"Cindy, she just-"
"I saw! But right now we have more problems to deal with!"
Four more gunmen came charging down the hall. Before Laura could so much as raise a hand the spider with the scarf unholstered a pistol and shot four times, catching three of the attackers through the head while the remaining one was shot through his left knee. Peter immediately webbed him to the ground before he could reach for his weapon and kicked him in the head, knocking him out.
"God..." The hooded spider gasped.
"Nice." Shadowcat whistled, her smirk widening, "Least one of you knows how to clean up after themselves."
"Can it." The scarfed spider ejected the magazine and counted the remaining bullets, "Look, you two don't get along, I get it. Here's a compromise: any of us kill it's in self-defense, no freaking executions." She gave Shadowcat a pointed look. The other weapon threw up her hands flippantly in response, "I mean it. We have to work together if we wanna make it outta here."
"Tch...whatever you say, Spinny."
"Play nice, Kat," Peter said. He turned to look at the hooded spider, "I know you wanna go off on your own, but that ain't a good idea."
"Yeah, why not?" the hooded spider snapped back, "MJ, Peter and Harry are out there. I need to find them."
"You wanna try getting through the damn blockades S.H.I.E.L.D set up? Go ahead. But you should probably know they made it to keep powered people in and out, so that suit of yours ain't gonna do much good. Even my phasing's gonna be slowed down if I have to take all five of you."
"She has a point, Gwen," the scarfed spider said, "With the power out the best option we have is to try and turn it back on. We can disable the barricades afterwards and find Mary Jane and the others."
"...Fine."
The scarfed spider led the way. Laura kept her posture low and her claws unsheathed, wary of any possible attackers. Not that she had to: as soon as any new attackers showed themselves one of the others took them down. Peter always made sure that she was behind him, which both confused and irritated her. She could help, and her young age was only ever meant to deflect suspicion rather than cause hesitation among those who used her.
"Here." The scarfed spider tapped a hard to see door and pulled back a panel, "Should be able to open it up from here. Good news is we're gonna be able to move around easier once the barriers are down. Bad news is that means so can they."
"Trust me, that's more bad for them than it is for us." Shadowcat laughed. She enjoyed violence, that was something the facility didn't program into her; or at least that was what Laura assumed. She herself didn't enjoy violence, at least, "And hey, once the barriers are down Spider-Girlie can go be a big hero."
"Shut the hell up..."
It didn't take long. The four of them kept watch on the doorway while the scarfed spider used the computer. Laura split her attention between keeping guard on the perimeter and observing the others. Peter had his gun drawn and stood at the ready, the exact opposite of Shadowcat and the hooded spider. The former was leaning against the wall seemingly without a care while the latter spent more time glaring at Shadowcat than anything else.
"...I got it!"
The lights returned. Laura blocked her eyes briefly and let them adjust to the light, "Thank fuck..." the hooded the spider said, relief washing over in droves, "Alright, now we gotta find the others."
"You wanna do that? Fine. Me? I'm heading for the exit. S.H.I.E.L.D ain't paying me to be a bodyguard."
"Fine, I didn't ask for your help."
"No one's going anywhere," Peter said, "Kat, we need to make sure the others are alright. Help us."
"Why do you care so much, Petey? Getting attached to your clone?" Peter's eyes narrowed and he didn't answer. Shadowcat looked at him for a moment and threw her hands up in irritation, "Alright, fine! God, you're such a bleeding heart."
"I'll take that as a compliment." He smiled at that, albeit faintly.
They didn't get far before three more agents came to intercept them. Laura sniffed the air and narrowed her eyes, "Something is wrong..." she said softly, getting a nod from Peter in return. The agents looked different from the last ones. They didn't carry guns and their movements were rigid, like the machine men after their bodies finally began to reject their implants.
"Look out!" the scarfed spider screamed. Peter grabbed Laura with both arms and pushed her to the ground just before she saw a blast of something dark shoot overhead. They looked at one another for a fleeting moment before he pulled out his revolver and shot one of the agents through the head.
The agent stepped back slightly at the impact and remained standing, the wound at his forehead immediately closing. The hooded spider jumped to try and close the distance, managing to smack one of them to the ground before another blast of energy knocked her back, "Shit!" Her suit peeled back to expose skin before quickly reforming, "I know what this is!"
"Save it for later!" Shadowcat phased through the next attack and slashed at their legs. Again they remained standing until the scarfed spider kicked two of them into the ground, "These fuckers heal fast!"
"We have to restrain them!" the hooded spider screamed.
"Easier said than done, Stacy!" Peter shot another coming towards them and webbed him to the ground, which lasted all of two seconds before the attacker ripped away the webbing with ease. Laura jumped towards him and slashed his throat before she was knocked back by a sudden punch. Peter was at her side immediately, blocking her from the attacker's view, "This is insane..."
"Attacking them won't work!" The hooded spider jumped over a blast of energy and webbed the first agent to the wall, "We have to knock them out!" She punched him across the face, hard enough that Laura heard something crack even amidst the fighting.
"What do you think we're trying to do, Spider-Girlie?!"
Shadowcat impaled one of them through the eyes and twisted her hand around. Next to her the scarfed spider shot the third agent through his kneecaps and wrapped her arms around his neck in powerful grip to try and choke him into unconsciousness, "This...isn't working!" the agent moved back to slam her against the wall and she jumped, webbing him to the surface as she did.
"I've got an idea..."
Peter ran to the closest agent and webbed his mouth and nose shut. Laura immediately sensed his fear and she ran, impaling both of his arms into the floor. His struggles immediately worsened, though it didn't take long for him to weaken. She was too young for it, but she'd been taught the basics of suffocation already. All it took was ten seconds on average for the subjects to weaken and fall unconscious.
"They still need to breath!" Shadowcat said, "Clog their throats!"
The scarfed spider followed her advice and released four thick strings of webbing into the second agent's mouth. The hooded spider hesitated and Laura heard her heart beat faster. She was scared.
Shadowcat did it for her. The other weapon grabbed a handful of webbing from the wall and stuffed it down the struggling agent's throat before covering his mouth with both hands. He tried to attack, tried to push her back, but all of his attacks phased through her. Partial intangibility; only her hands were solid now, though Laura doubted the agent realized that in his panicking state.
Eventually his struggled ceased and he lied still, remaining upright only due to the webs keeping him pinned to the wall. Shadowcat stepped back and gave the hooded spider an unamused glare, "God, you're fucking useless, aren't you? Tell you what, next time you wanna commit suicide could you do it when there aren't people relying on you?"
"Fuck off.."
"What's done is done," the scarfed spider said, "Come on, we gotta find the others before these guys do."
"Yeah..." The hooded spider nodded, "Let's go..."
This was fucked.
They'd been lucky enough so far, only running into unaware gunmen that she managed to tackle into unconsciousness, but their luck had finally run out. Mary Jane saw one of the intruders aiming his gun at a S.H.I.E.L.D agent flat on the ground, his hands and legs cuffed together. She couldn't stop herself from crying out in shock, which immediately drew his attention.
Mary Jane ducked behind the wall and barely avoided the laser blast that soared over her head, "Fuck..." Her breaths came out in rapid gasps and her heart beat wildly, "Shit, shit, shit!" She pressed herself harder against the surface of the metal. This was too much. A few days ago she froze when she saw a fucking pistol and now she was being shot at with lasers that could melt through steel!
Not to mention her current 'partner'.
He - Bullseye, he called himself - laughed, "Is that the best you got?" He pulled out a paperclip from his pocket and threw it against the wall. Mary Jane was about to ask him what the hell he was doing before the attacker's gun suddenly clicked ineffectually, "Aww, having problems, buddy?" Another paperclip was thrown; this time through his eye, somehow. The agent fell back and screamed, clutching at his injured eye with both hands.
"How did..." Mary Jane said softly.
"Man, the standard for agents has really gone downhill." He unlocked the cuffs and pulled the S.H.I.E.L.D agent up into a shaky stand. He saved him, Mary Jane noted numbly, "Might wanna get out of here, pal. It's gonna be a splatter zone."
"I...okay." The S.H.I.E.L.D agent looked down at the bloodstained prison jumpsuit before turning away, "Thanks."
"Everybody gets one." He waved the operative away cheerily and turned his attention to the whimpering intruder, "Let's get a look at at that face of yours." He pulled the agent's mask away. His right eye was covered in a thick pool of blood and Mary Jane saw tears and mucus mixing in together with every cry of pain he gave, "What do you say, big guy? Wanna go for the other eye?"
It was disgusting, everything rational and sane inside her told her it was. He was dragging out the agent's pain and he enjoyed it. She should've been turning away in disgust. Instead her lips curled up into a smile and she moaned.
He didn't hear her, but the shame that washed over her was more than enough to jolt her out of whatever haze she was experiencing, 'Ha, now there's someone who knows to have fun!' The symbiote screeched at the back of her mind, 'I should've gone for him instead!
"Stop doing this..."
'Doing what? You mean the wetness in your meaty human parts?' It laughed, 'That's not from me, little red! That's all you!'
"No!" Bullseye snapped back to look at her with a questioning look. Mary Jane took a deep breath and stood up straight, hands clenched into tight fists at her sides, "He's down. You don't need to torture him."
"Well yeah, I don't need to, but..." He pulled out another paperclip and dangled it in the air in front of the helpless agent. He screamed again and tried to back away, "It's so much fun! You should try it!"
"No." She grabbed his arm and pulled him away, "Knock him out if you want, but not...this." She tried her utter damndest to ignore the part of her that wanted to agree with him, the part that wanted to watch the agent squirm and beg for mercy that she wasn't going to give. She wasn't going to give in to that thing.
"Fine..." He pouted like a kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar. It was fucking bizarre, "What do you wanna do with him? That wound's pretty nasty so knocking him out will probably kill him anyway once he bleeds out. It's why I wanted to have some fun first."
She didn't get to answer. The bleeding agent suddenly screamed, but it wasn't from pain. Mary Jane snapped her head to him and stepped back when she saw his entire body changing color, his skin going from a pale pink to blackish blue. The agent's screams died down to something soft and he stood, his eye quickly healing itself till there was no trace of the wound.
"...Shit," Bullseye said next to her.
The next moment was pure agony. Mary Jane barely had time to raise her hands before the entire hall was engulfed in a wave of dark energy. Her back smacked against the wall painfully and she fell onto the ground, whimpering in pain all the while. Through blurry eyes she caught sight of the agent walking towards the Bullseye's prone form, energy dancing across his palms.
He was going to kill him.
"No..." She reached a hand out feebly. Everything hurt and her body refused to cooperate, "Come on..." She had powers, she could...
'Do what, little red? Freeze like you did all those nights ago?' The monster chuckled, 'You're going to die here.'
"So will you..."
'There's a chance I can survive, maybe use your corpse like a suit.' Despite its words she heard the hesitation; she knew her own voice well enough to tell.
"You're...lying. You don't know for sure..." She clenched her hands, "Help me..."
'What, now you need my help? After refusing me time and again?'
"I need you..." It was painful to admit, after so long of wanting to get rid of it, "I'm begging you...help me so we can survive." They needed each other to live through this. She wasn't strong enough to fight that thing on her own, "Please..."
It didn't answer, but the warmth that spread across her body was enough of a reply. The red flesh covered her entire body and she stood, the pain from her back fading into a dull ache. The agent turned to face her, and his look of surprise was brief before she charged. Her left arm changed into an axe and she sliced his hand clean off, "Die!" She impaled him against the wall with her other hand. It was more than enough to kill him.
Which made the next punch come as a surprise. Mary Jane stumbled back at the hit and blocked the next hit, "What the..." His hand was back. Mary Jane gaped down at the reformed limb in shock until another blast of energy forced her back. She fell on her knees and glared up at the photo-negative agent.
He only managed two steps before a makeshift shiv impaled itself at the back of his head, "Forgetting about me?" Bullseye held onto the wall with both hands, mouth raised in a strained smirk. He was flagging, "Come on, big guy. Let's finish what we started."
The agent turned away from her and she acted. Ignoring any hesitation she reformed her hand into a blade sliced his neck as hard as she could. The fleshy blade cut through half of his neck before it stopped, 'He's healing.' The monster said. Mary Jane lost feeling in her limbs and could only watch her arms move on their own. The clawed tips of her remaining hand pushed through the gaps of flesh and pulled.
Even without being in control she felt the strain. Seconds of agonized screams passed before more of the flesh ripped away and the head was finally separated from the rest of the body. Mary Jane watched her hands dangle the dismembered head almost playfully before tossing it down the length of the hallway, far away from the now-normal colored body of the agent.
"Huh...damn." Bullseye whistled, obviously impressed, "You're just full of surprises, aren't you, Red?"
Feeling returned to her body quickly and the suit slipped away till she was left with nothing but her bloodstained jacket, yoga pants and sneakers, "Yeah..." She took a shuddering breath and felt torn between the urge to cheer or vomit, "Let's...just get out of here."
Peter was an idiot.
When he first saw the agents using the same kooky 'gifts' Martin had he'd hesitated, wondered maybe if he'd somehow survived that shot to the heart and come back for revenge. A stupid thought. He watched his body fall into the dirt and he doubted that he'd get unlucky three times and find out Martin came back from the dead. Last he checked he didn't have a god trying to pull his strings.
Fighting them wasn't too difficult. Whatever gifts allowed him to hurt Martin was still there and just being near him caused their powers to weaken. Not enough to make them harmless, but enough that shooting them in the head or gut wasn't just something they could shrug off. And, much as he hated to admit it, Osborn was a damn good shot. Guess that army training went somewhere.
And then he went and messed it all up.
One of the bastards managed to get one last blast off before he finally expired and Osborn was right in the center of it. Peter didn't know what possessed him to push the bastard out of the way and take the hit, but now he had to face the consequences.
Consequences that included his eyes being seared shut and his legs getting blasted with enough force to damn near cripple him.
"Rrgh, damn it!" Peter fell on his knees and covered his eyes with both hands, a scream escaping despite his best efforts. Just barely he heard Osborn popping off two more shots before he was at his side, holding him steady.
"Peter! Fuck, are you-"
"I-I'm fine!" He pushed him off and tried to stand, but he didn't get far before his spider-sense rang and he just barely avoided colliding headfirst into the fall, "Fuck..." He couldn't open his eyes. Taking a deep breath, he tried to force his eyelids apart before the pain made them close again. Not that it mattered; in the brief glimpse he got all he saw was blackness.
He was blind.
"Peter...you're-"
"I know!" Peter grit his teeth. He doubted it was any more permanent than the rest of his injuries, but right now that was of little comfort. Not when they were still in the middle of a damn assault, "Shit..."
"W-We need to get you help."
"Yeah, no shit..." He stepped back and grabbed his gun in a shaky grip. It still hurt, "We...you have to lead the way."
"Fine. Just lean on me, I can-"
"No..." He shook his head, "Spider-sense warns me...I don't need-"
"God, stop being so fucking stubborn!" Osborn grabbed his arm and wrapped his arm around his shoulders, "You can hate me when we're not being shot at, alright? For now just let me help you."
Peter didn't answer, which Osborn took as a cue to start dragging his useless hide along. All Peter could do was listen to his spider-sense and warn Osborn when someone was coming around the corner. At least he still weakened their powers, so he wasn't completely useless.
"We're almost there..." Osborn said, "Just a little more-"
Spider-sense.
"Next corner!" he shouted. Osborn turned to the left and fired the gun, only to be met with a dull click; either jammed or it finally ran out of ammo. Peter didn't even have time to curse before Osborn threw him aside, the smell of burning meat coming soon after. Osborn screamed out a string of obscenities and Peter quickly realized that he must have taken the hit for both of them. He guessed they were both idiots like that.
His spider-sense blared again and he followed, rolling to the side to avoid the next barrage of laser fire. He aimed his wrist to where he heard the muted blast, released a large net of webbing and tugged as hard as he could as soon the web made contact. Peter heard something metallic clatter to the ground and he didn't know whether to laugh or curse that he'd somehow managed to to grab the bastard's gun despite his blindness.
He didn't have time to curse his schizophrenic luck. Peter released another burst of webbing at the agent and jumped for the discarded weapon. It wasn't the most graceful of landings, but the feeling of the gun in his hands was more than worth it. Peter aimed where he heard the bastard struggling before he pulled the trigger, again and again, until whatever the damn thing had for a magazine finally ran out.
The smell of burning flesh was worse now with nothing else to distract him. Peter threw the gun aside and panted, too tired to even make his way to where Osborn lay.
Two pairs of footsteps reached his ears while his spider-sense remained silent, "Peter! Harry!" Mary's voice reached his ears. Before he could say anything back a pair of hands grabbed him by the shoulders and propped him up on the wall. Not Mary's; they were too big and rough, "Hey, be careful with him!"
"Trust me, I'm being as careful as I can!" Bullseye...Peter couldn't stop himself from smiling. It was a relief to hear his voice, as messed up as this entire situation was, "Shit, kid...this ain't exactly the reunion I was hoping for."
"Sorry to disappoint you..." Peter laughed softly. He felt Mary prop up Harry next to him, "Mary, is he alright?'
"There's a nasty burn at his side." He could practically see her scowl, "What do we do?"
"I've had worse..." Osborn said weakly... "Peter-"
"Save it till we get out of here, Osborn."
Thankfully luck seemed to finally go their way for once. More footsteps came and soon enough the rest of their little group found them. Gwen screamed out a curse as soon as she saw them and immediately cupped his face, "Peter..." Her fingertips brushed against his jaw. Next to him Cindy covered up Harry's wound with some web; or at least that's what he assumed she did gvien what he heard, "Peter, you're-"
"Let's just get out of here..." They were close to the exit already, "We can talk later, okay?"
"Alright, just...just stay close to me. I won't let anything happen to you."
Their good luck continued and soon enough they managed to find themselves in a makeshift S.H.I.E.L.D recovery camp inside another seemingly abandoned building. Peter still remembered the feeling of heated light on his skin and the screams of the agents for them to freeze and put their hands above their heads as soon as they went through the exit. Peter just wondered where the hell they were while they were fighting through that maze of a facility.
Peter listened to the doctor rattle off about proper bandaging without a care. His wounds would heal as soon as he went to sleep, anyway. After promising to take the proper amount of drugs the doctor left to talk to the others who got injured.
He wasn't alone for long. Peter smelled the dried blood in air long before he heard Bullseye's voice, "Hah, you look like hell." He scraped the chair roughly and sat in across from him.
"Speak for yourself." He smiled weakly.
"What, you don't like it? I think prison red's my color." He laughed softly, "...Hey, you alright?"
"I'm blind, Bullseye. Even if it's temporary I'm not exactly feeling my best." He leaned back on the bed and sighed, "What about you? I didn't even realize they took you in."
"Yeah, they just came into my place dragged me to a cell in my pajamas. Thank God I didn't have company that night, huh?"
"So...what are you going to do now?"
"Now? Well, gotta catch up on my schedule. You know there was a guy pimping out underaged girls I was gonna to meet? Planned to feed him his own balls and everything before my old bosses got in the way. It's gonna be a pain in the ass to track him down."
"Could you save that if arresting him isn't an option?"
"Aww, come on, don't be a spoilsport! First you and then that redhead chick!" He paused, "I gotta say, though, she knows how to put the hurt out. You shoulda seen her, kid. She ripped off one of those agent's heads with her bare hands. And I thought you were strong."
"...She did?" That was...worrying.
"Yeah, she did. She felt bad about it, though. Dunno why." He laughed, though Peter only felt a sense of relief. Guilt was good, at least for her, "So, whaddaya say we cut out of here, find a good bar?"
"Tempting, but I'd rather stay put for now." He leaned forward and squeezed his shoulder, "Make sure to call me if you need anything."
"Ditto, kid."
They said their goodbyes and Peter leaned back on the bed till his back touched the wall. They gave him a tent all to his own, but it was little relief right now. He heard them all through the flaps, heard all their footsteps and voices blending into one another into an ungodly cacophony that made him want to bash his brains out. "Shit..." He covered his ears. It was bad here, but he knew it would only be a hundred times worse out there in the open.
Footsteps came to the front of the tent before suddenly stopping. Peter waited for a few seconds before he spoke up, "...I know you're there."
"Sorry." Gwen's voice reached his ears. He could almost see her smiling sheepishly after that, "Didn't know if you were asleep."
"Can't sleep with all the racket."
"Racket? Wait, are your senses acting up again? Is there anything I can do?'
"Just stay here with me..." It was sappy and he knew it. Still, having someone distract him was better than nothing. Gwen hesitated briefly before she sat at his side, close enough for their legs to touch, "...You alright?"
"Yeah, just...pissed off at Shadowcat. You don't need to hear it." She let out a frustrated breath, "She and Spider-Man already left with that kid. Said that none of them were injured so they didn't wanna hang around."
"Huh..." And here he was hoping to talk to his 'brother'. Maybe next time, "...What about Osborn? He took a nasty hit."
"He's asleep now. Cindy's keeping an eye on him." He was suddenly reminded of their earlier conversation, "...What's wrong? You look like you swallowed a sour grape."
"Osborn likes Cindy..."
He didn't see it, but it was obvious that she was gaping, "Um...what? How do you know that?"
"He told me." He had to force it out, but he told him.
"Huh...well, Cindy told me she doesn't trust him."
"He knows that. Guess he's just an idiot." He wasn't the only one. Being this close together with Gwen, it was just another reminder. How long could they keep this up? Pretend to be the happy couple when he killed people behind her back and risked her mother's life every time he resisted Murdock's pulls? Something would give eventually and he didn't like the odds on it not being him.
"I wish you two would get along..."
"It's never gonna happen, Gwen. I'm sorry."
"Yeah, I guess I can't be too surprised. Guess I should just be happy that you two aren't killing each other." She might've meant it as a joke, but the bitterness in her tone was clear as day. Before he could say anything to cheer her up her phone suddenly buzzed, "Huh...it's Gayle."
"What'd she say?" Though he already had a good idea considering what she was like.
"She's asking how the testing went...and she's wondering if I'm interesting in going out to a concert."
Despite everything Peter laughed, "Looks like you've got another admirer, Gwen."
"What, her? No way." Gwen snorted.
"...Seriously? You're just in denial now."
"Not what I meant." She clicked her tongue, "It's just...with Kate she liked 'Gwen Stacy', but Gayle has a celeb crush on Spider-Woman. It's like when a tween gets a crush on Johnny Storm; they're just enamored with the fantasy." Half of this city was, from what he gathered, "She doesn't really know me and pretty soon the paint's gonna chip off. So I'm not really in the mood to humor her."
"Yeah, I don't blame you..."
They sat there in silence after that, just relishing in each other's warmth. Peter let his body relax and faced upwards, allowing himself to calm down for the first time today. They had another brush with death and survived. He could only hope their streak could keep going.
"So...you healthy enough to leave?" Gwen asked, "Cause I wanted to get back home soon."
"What?" He looked in her direction.
"Well, I'm obviously not leaving you alone. You're blind, Peter. You're coming back with me."
"Blind, not helpless," he replied, "...Where's Mary?"
"She went back ahead of us. They checked her for injuries and didn't find anything." She held his hand and squeezed, "Is something wrong?"
"She killed someone earlier. I know it's not her first time, but..." Was it hypocritical for him to worry about it? He'd rebuffed Gwen more times than he could count at this point, and it wasn't like he had much more experience than Mary when he took his first life both here and in his memories.
"Yeah, that's worrying me, too..." He heard her lick her lips, "We'll talk with her later, okay? Right now all I know is that Janet's medicine is working so she's not going to lose control."
"I hope so..."
Gwen's breath slowed and her hand trailed up his arm. Soon enough she cupped his face and pulled him into a gentle kiss, the contact so soft that he could've pulled away at the slightest twitch. They continued like that for a few more seconds before eventually separating, "...What was that for?"
"Guess I just didn't want to end the day on a bad note." She laughed softly, "Come on, let's get outta here."
"Is something wrong, Helen?"
Helen looked up from her coffee and smiled faintly at her companion, "Nothing's wrong, Cindy," she said, though it was clear by the doubt on the other woman's face that she didn't believe her, "Really, I'm fine. It's just...a lot of things going on, you know?"
"Not really, but who am I to second-guess the woman who stumbled out of the grave?" Helen laughed at the poor joke and took a sip of her coffee. It was honestly a miracle that she'd run into Cindy the way she did that night. Anyone else would've just looked away and pretended it wasn't their problem, but she helped her to the station and even paid for her fare. Helen doubted she would've made it back home on her own.
Home...
She shook her head. It was the house she'd lived in for almost a decade, but was it still her home now? When her daughter was a woman fully grown and her husband finally moved on from the grief of burying her? Jessica urged her to stay, but she couldn't. Not when she had to be reminded of how much she'd missed and all that she could never have again.
She was supposed to be apartment hunting, though she knew it would've been futile. In the end the idea of actually leaving was too hard for her to imagine and she'd be right back home, smiling like nothing was wrong. It didn't help that Ben and May offered to house her while Gwen offered to pay any sort of rent she wanted for the next year (or ten...). They just wanted her to be happy and she didn't have the heart to tell them that it wasn't working.
Which made her run-in with Cindy a relief. She'd caught her at a cafe and the younger woman invited her in for a coffee. My treat, she said, to celebrate you finding your family.
"Wanna tell me? I'm a good listener." Cindy smiled.
"I..." Helen took a deep breath, "It's complicated."
"What isn't? We live in a complicated world." Yeah, a world where she came back from the dead and her daughter was an honest to God superhero, "Hit me."
"It's..." She licked her lips nervously, "If I told you I came back from the dead, would you believe me?"
"I'm a woman of science, Len." Helen blinked at the sudden nickname, "Logic would dictate that coming back from the dead is impossible, but look at the world we live in. A world where radiation turned a dying woman into an green skinned amazon and an altered spider lets you cling to walls and jump 50 feet into the air. So let's say I'm keeping an open mind to the claim."
"Right, well...hope your mind stays open."
So Helen told her everything, excepting a few details like Gwen's alter ego and little Peter's own brush with death. Helen knew she should've kept her mouth shut, but the ear of a sympathetic stranger was too tempting to pass up. Goerge, Gwen, Ben and May, they wanted to help her, but they were too afraid of hurting her with whatever they said. She didn't need that.
"Sounds complicated." Cindy took a small sip of her cappuccino, "You mentioned your husband finding someone else?"
"Yeah. Jessica Jones..." She pursed her lips. Helen didn't hate her - she couldn't - but she couldn't deny there was a certain resentment that bubbled. Maybe if she never got together with George Helen could've made a go of it again. She knew it was wrong, that George deserved to be happy instead of pining after the memory of a dead woman, but she couldn't help it.
"Well...I can't say I have much advice for you. I mean the only relationships I've had are casual."
"Yeah, you mentioned that Matthew guy." Apparently he was a lawyer, though Cindy didn't explain much.
"That's the one. We're usually too busy with our own thing, though." She checked her time and frowned, "Listen, I gotta go soon. Wanna meet up again in a couple of days? Same time?"
"Sure." She still had to plan for Gwen's surprise birthday party tomorrow, so at least it was something to keep her mind occupied.
Helen waved goodbye and Cindy watched her until she disappeared into the crowd, "God, she's a fucking mess." She finished off her drink and tossed the styrofoam cup into the trash before leaving the cafe altogether. Matt said she was insurance to keep Stacy away from the grudge match he and her boyfriend had going, but it was obvious he just wanted to see both Stacy and Parker squirm. Not that she blamed him for that.
She walked into an alley and flexed her gloved hands, darkforce energy thrumming across her fingers. Experimenting on the priest's body took weeks, but she finally managed some tangible results. It would make it harder for S.H.I.E.L.D to repel her agents' attack, at least, even if it was just a test and a distraction.
Still...
"Jessica Jones, huh?" She heard about her on the news. The superpowered vigilante P.I who had a reputation for being a drunken jackass. No costume either, which made people doubt she was legit. Helen tried to hide it, but there was definitely some resentment there. Cindy held off on taking her before - always something else to do - but now...
Well, anything to help a friend, right?
Yeah...that last bit is totally Helen's fault
She really should've known better than to rant to strangers about her problems; you never know if they might be recently empowered terrorist leaders who're looking for excuses to experiment on people. So yeah, Peter's (temporarily) blind, MJ let Carnage out to save herself, Gwen's pissed off at Shadowcat, Harry's injured and Jessica's very likely to be kidnapped.All in all a typical day.
Questions:
1. So I just realized something. Despite Ben and May being Peter's surrogate parents he gets a hilariously small amount of interactions with them. Should I add more talks and whatnot between the three or do you guys think it's justified due to his awkward relationship and identity issues that they don't really talk to one another?
2. Following on the discussion above, who do you guys think is the most messed up character among he good guys' side? Conversely, who's the most stable/least fucked up? I'm just curious.
3. So where do we go next chapter? We either continue the main story (which is the beginning of the Jack arc), do that Lana omake (not 'canon' to the rest of the story) or we take a break and have more Wolverine family shenanigans (I promise not to rip off scenes from Logan this time). As always, pick your poison.
