Persephone tapped her foot on the rotting wood of the dock impatiently. She had been waiting for nearly ten minutes now. And no one kept Persephone waiting. People were always too scared to. But apparently this client was either incredibly cocky or incredibly stupid.
She sat, stiff backed, on the rusted metal railing of the pier dock as she pulled up her gloves the fabric smoothing.
"You're late," she said without looking up at the man who had just approached. She could hear his heavy footsteps as they creaked on the wood. "Took you long enough," she drawled coldly, the nightly chill pricking the back of her neck. She would have to charge him extra. That was the fine. You pay more the more of the deal you infringe on. She kept a strict meeting time for a reason.
She was a busy woman and she had things to do. Run a drug ring, mix up some more of the illegal narcotics and brews for said drug ring, and she had homework. Like, a lot of homework. Or at least she would soon when school started. But her chemistry teachers don't exactly accept innovative poisons and amnesia pills as extra credit.
"You're Persephone," he said, a bit awe struck, but also a little underwhelmed as though he had actually expected the real Greek myth to come and sell him things that shouldn't even be real.
Well, maybe she was a bit of a miracle worker when it came to that.
"Yes I'm her. Now do you have the money?" she asked impatiently, tapping her foot once more to emphasize her mood.
"Um yeah," he said, a bit skittish, but he forked it over, tossing her a large back pack filled to the brim with stacks of dollar bills. She smiled a bit at that. Her face was securely hidden by the black mask and large hood she always wore, covering her from view and potential recognition.
"It's a pleasure doing business with you," she said as she tossed him a small velvet drawstring pouch. Her insignia was embossed in silver on the dark material. The intricate wreath of flowers stood out in stark contrast in the low light coming from the city.
"These will work?" he asked, unsure. Strange that he made it this far and was still doubtful of her.
"How much faith do you have in me?" she simply responded. Mystery 101, always answer their question with a question of your own. Something her friend had taught her.
"It's just a lot is riding on your skill," he said, holding her steely gaze.
"Then it will work," she said, as she walked back up the dock towards where he was standing. "It always works," she said, standing next to him, their shoulders almost touching, but they face opposite directions. "You made it this far didn't you?" she whispered to him.
It was one of her most popular concoctions. Elysium. It caused someone to live in a state of constant bliss. Highly addictive, a real money maker for her. When she created it, the pale purple liquid was able to solidify and form small pills in the shape of a small marble, but one of those was able to sustain a week of bliss. She had been particularly proud of it. While it wasn't the most apparently destructive, it was able to bring people under her control after one dose, driven by their addiction and need for it.
"Thank you. I can't tell you how much it means to me that you helped me. I made one mistake," he said giving her a smile as though she was his savior. She took him. He wasn't good looking, but he wasn't ugly. Just mediocre. Then there it was, the slightest tan line on his finger. Something happened with his wife. He probably cheated. Remorseful cheaters were one of her more frequent customers.
"Then don't say it," Persephone sniffed indignantly. "Don't waste your breath," she said as she turned on her heel and walked away.
"Thank you," he said again.
She simply shouldered the bag of cash and went back home, not giving him a second thought as she dropped her indifferent facade. A necessary precaution to throw suspicion off of her in real life.
Spider Man cursed as he saw what was in that velvet pouch. The almost iridescent pills the man had bought. Once Persephone had left, the man had checked to make sure she hadn't tricked him. But sure enough, there they were.
Elysium.
One of the most dangerous drugs on the black market, only manufactured by Persephone, a quickly rising drug lord.
The goddess of narcotics. She was crazy. He had watched the entire exchange though. The man was desperate if he was buying Elysium from Persephone.
Crawling down the wall silently, he flicked out a web and plucked the pouch from the man's hands.
"Sorry, I can't let you keep that," he said with an air of a carefree yet apologetic nature. He felt bad for taking it, but he couldn't let this man do things with it.
Who knew what he was planning. Clutching the drug tightly, he swung across the buildings using his webs until he made it back home, the man's protests fading the farther he got.
This drug lord couldn't sell drugs in Midtown without him knowing. This Persephone lady now had to deal with Spider Man.
Connie was late. She was so late. She couldn't be late on the first day.
As she flew through the school campus, running as fast as her feet would carry her. She kept a firm grip on her backpack as she climbing through the stairwells going up until she reached the third floor.
Midtown High made up for it's limited square footage of land and, instead of building out, they built up. And it seemed smart until you were a student who had to climb the stairs every day. She hadn't meant to oversleep, it just happened and it rarely ever happened, but she was out late last night.
It was the first day and she was already off to an awful start. Sophomore year was supposed to be fun, better than freshman year at least. She was taking a ton of advanced classes and she was now regretting it as she continued climbing the stairs. Her classes were now spread out all over the school and this would be only one of many runs she would take that day throughout the now empty halls.
Sprinting into the classroom, slightly out of breath, Connie smiled weakly at the teacher, apology written all over her face.
"Sorry-" she mumbled as she took the only available seat in the back of the room next to a bay who seemed to be in her grade among all the upperclassmen.
"Alright, now that you have so graciously bestowed your presence, we can finally start," he teacher droned as he continued to draw diagrams of atoms on the whiteboard, cutting off the rest of her apology.
Connie didn't retaliate, but instead just took a notebook out of her bag and smiled at the boy sitting next to her. "I'm Connie Maranzano. Sorry I messed up the lesson," she apologized. If her teacher wouldn't let her apologize, maybe her new lab partner would.
"Hey, it's no problem," he said with an easy smile. "I'm Peter Parker."