Chapter 9
"So, how do I look?"
Ben grimaced as his mom came out in a mint green sundress that clung to her body and showed off the figure that she hid behind slightly baggy clothing. "You look…nice." He tried to take a neutral approach on the compliments since because while it had been innocent and cute when he was like 5 to tell his mom she was pretty, it got awkward later on. And he so didn't want to develop an Oedipus complex.
"Nice? Really?" Perenna looked down at her body and she shrugged her shoulders before going back into the stall. "So what's the future like?"
"Oh, not that different from now since it's only 17 years into the future, but the technology is better. That's about it." Ben replied.
"Thank you for reminding me that I only have literally two years to find a man." Perenna said dryly.
Ben cracked a smile. 'If only she knew.'
"Got that right." Toxin added.
Perenna came out next in a blue shirt with short sleeves, a long white shirt underneath it, and with cargo jeans on. "How 'bout this?"
"Perfect." Ben stated bluntly. "Now me won't look at you intently."
"Are you trying to keep me single?" Perenna asked sarcastically.
Ben glanced down at the shiny metal band around his wrist for a moment. "Yes. You and dad are perfect for each other, though that was not always the case in the beginning."
Perenna followed his gaze to the band around his wrist. "What is that anyway?" she seen it on his wrist before, but never really bothered to ask what it was. It definitely didn't look like a normal bracelet to her.
"It's a suppressor. It helps keep my powers under control. Without I wouldn't even be able to bath without falling on my back out cold."
"But my powers are stable." Perenna replied.
"It's not your powers I'm talking about." Ben replied.
Perenna wondered what he meant for a moment before realizing what he was saying. "Your father?"
Ben didn't answer right away; like he was debating whether or not he should say anything, before he simply nodded.
When they had bought the clothes they wanted, they were walking down the street until Ben saw the current date on a newspaper. September 5. "That's right, tomorrow school starts." He said and remembered that contest date had passed. Though he had intentionally ignore that. "Wanna go out for some mother-son time tonight?" he muttered.
Perenna pretended to think it over before putting her arm around Ben's shoulder, the blond doing the same. "Mother-son kick butt? I like it." She said just as quietly and smiled. Ben merely smiled back.
In the night sky, two figures; one a woman in a red and blue costume, and a man-though ironically younger-in a red and black 'costume' were swinging from building to building. While the woman's mask only covered her eyes, the man's covered his whole face and hair.
The woman was in the lead and landed in a crouched position on a building. The man landed just beside her. "Last night before school starts, and I could really use some action." Spider-Woman mused aloud.
'Toxin' seemed to be giving her an amused look. "Not that kind of action unless it's with dad Toxin hopes." Then he shuddered. That was a mental image he could he really go without.
"Huh?" Spider-Woman echoed, before a bright blush came over her cheeks. "No! Not that type of action!" she scowled. When they heard an alarm system going off, she was silently grateful. "Come on!"
'Toxin' chuckled. And while he knew he could get pretty flustered and squeamish about things, nice to know that there was someone worse at it than him.
When they landed on the edge, 'Toxin' saw it was Flint Marko and Alex O'Hirn. He suddenly started to chuckled and Spider-Woman gave him a strange look as she webbed O'Hirn and pulled him back, letting 'Toxin' neatly web him to a pole upside down and turned on her new 'spider signal.'
"Oh no, not again!" Marko griped as he covered up his face to shield himself from the glaring red light.
Spider-Woman chuckled. "Yep, again. What is this Marko, like the third time this summer?"
"Wait, third?" 'Toxin' laughed. "You two…" he laughed harder, the other three present clearly missing the joke. "Tell Toxin, how does it feel when you two brawny mooks get beaten up and emasculated by this teeny, tiny, little lady?" he chuckled and gestured to Spider-Woman.
There was a disbelieving silence and Spider-Woman shook her head, giving 'Toxin' a glare. "Anyway," she jumped on the roof and dispatched Marko fairly easily, since what 'Toxin' had said had been rather humiliating. And if that wasn't enough, Spider-Woman hogtied him.
'Toxin' leaned lazily against the wall. "Look on the bright side Marko, after you get turned into a supervillain, get your sandy ass kicked a lot, inevitably landing you in prison a lot and simultaneously breaking out, then get your ass kicked some more, you finally retire." He summarised.
'Toxin' got stares. Complete with shocked and incredulous looks from all present.
Spider-Woman took a deep breath and let out a sigh. "Toxin, what the hell are you are?"
One could practically see the grin on his face. "But Toxin's not on anything."
Somehow, that made the stuff he's said even more disturbing.
