"Hi." Perenna said sitting down on the opposite of MJ at the table she was at.
"Hi, surprised?" MJ questioned.
Perenna smiled. "Eh, sorta." She shrugged. "How are you and John doing?"
"Good." MJ replied softly.
"How's your career going?" Perenna asked innocently.
MJ cringed at that. "Um, that's what I wanted to talk to you about. First off though, how's your career going?"
"Great." Perenna beamed. "I just got out of an interview and I got a job."
"That's great." MJ struggled to smile at her friend. "What kind of job did you get?"
"A model." Perenna actually blushed. "Me, a model, this is amazing. And you?"
MJ's smile dimmed. "I...I got fired."
Perenna's own smile faded and she winced. "Oh, uh, you'll get another job, you're…uh, you got…talent." She said weakly. She really sucked at this whole 'pep talk' thing didn't she? "Well, those guys were crazy for firing you; I know you'll get another job."
MJ's smile brightened from the praise. "Thanks."
There was an awkward pause before Perenna rubbed the nape of her neck. "Well, it was nice to see you again, so, uh, I'm gonna go." She said sheepishly. "Oh, and Harry's fine." She doubted that was actually true, but she was trying to be optimistic.
Not too far away, Otto was feeling distinctly morose. His search for the brunette was taking longer than he'd expected. He hadn't intended for the old woman to actually get him to leave, he'd just intended to scare her into telling him where Parker was. That backfired spectacularly.
How long was it going to take to find just one woman?
By chance, when he looked around periodically as 'chance' had more percentage of finding her than actively trying to track her down. It was a primitive method and illogical, but considering how evasively Parker was proving when he was actively trying to find her, this may be the right method to use.
And wouldn't you know it; he saw her sitting at a table in a diner with a red-haired girl. The brunette was facing the window and she didn't seem to have noticed him. Otto thought back to the first time he'd met the girl and how she'd left abruptly, saying she had a date, and had never explicitly stated she was meeting a guy.
He assumed that this redhead was Perenna's girlfriend and he could use this to get her to tell him where Spider-Woman was. He casually walked into the diner and over to the girl. "Parker, what a surprise." He said coolly.
Perenna looked up and though there was momentary surprise on her face at his outfit, she smiled. "Hi Otto. Uh, MJ, this is Otto Octavius, and this is Mary Jane Watson." She introduced them both politely.
"Miss Watson." Otto said keeping his cool demeanour before looking back at Perenna. "Parker, I believe you took something from my lab that didn't belong to you for a certain…someone shall we say."
Perenna's eyes widened as she tried to keep the guilt off her face. "Um, I don't know what you're talking about." She said weakly.
"Oh, I think you do." Otto retorted. "But if you're going to continue trying to deceive me, then you give me no other choice." He looked back at MJ with a genuinely apologetic expression. "I'm sorry."
MJ looked confused. "For what?"
"This." One of the 'pods shot out from the trench coat and grabbed MJ at the waist, her shrieking making other patrons jump in surprise. Perenna jerked back and another 'pod opened and grabbed her at the neck.
"What do want?" she gasped clutching at the 'pod and wondered what it was with people aiming for her neck.
"I want you to find your friend Spider-Woman. Tell her to meet me at the Westside Tower at 3:00." Otto replied.
"I don't know where she is." Perenna lied weakly.
"Find her, or if you insist on lying some more, I'll peel the flesh off your girlfriend's bones." Otto hissed.
Perenna flinched, though she merely assumed that by 'girlfriend' he simply meant that she was her friend. "If you lay one finger on her-"
"You'll do what?" Otto interrupted smugly before throwing Perenna back.
Perenna another table and it was crushed under the weight of the throw and she cringed as she blacked out for a moment and when she came too, she found that most people were scrambling to get out and when she looked at the clock, she saw she only had 2 hours to rescue MJ.
Perenna got up gingerly and her hand brushed against hip. The thought that putting the chip under her skin was a bad idea once again reared its head and she didn't stop it from overruling her thoughts. At first it sounded like a good idea; clean and backlash free.
On paper it sounded good, but once she actually did it, she had slowly realized how things would always come back to making Spider-Woman save the day. She knew that she could mope about never having a normal life, didn't mean she had to go through with it.
Only know did she realize how stupid this decision was.
She also realized that she had thrown away her spider suit, though in her defence she thought she'd never need it again.
Perenna wobbled the first few steps and she walked over to the barista, who looked to be frozen in shock. "Hey, do you have pliers or something?"
The barista shook herself and pointed over to the store across the street. "Over there, they got all kinds of stuff, you might find it there."
"Thanks." Perenna replied and wobbled out of the diner, her steps becoming steadier as she headed over the store and after buying a set of pliers; she ducked into an alley and leaned against the wall on the other side of a tall dumpster. She gritted her teeth as she pushed the pliers under her skin and almost blacked out again when she dug the bloody chip out. She took her jacket off and held it against her hip to stop the bleeding.
The aches she was experiencing started fading and she let out a sigh of relief. She waited a few moments before pulling back the jacket and looking at the cut. It didn't look bad and seemed to be healing. She hoped it healed quickly and left the alleyway, thought she mournfully tossed her bloody and ruined jacket into the dumpster after taking the cell phone out of the pocket.
She was really going to miss that jacket, but doubted that the bloodstains could be removed so easily.
Still, not trusting herself enough to make it to the Bugle-she'd seen her costume hanging on the wall of the editor's office like some kind of trophy-and get back her costume. Would it really be stealing if she was getting back what was hers?
No. Or at least, that was what she was telling herself as she hailed a cab.
Perenna made it to the top of the Bugle building, peering in through the skylight as she opened it and webbed her costume out, leaving one of her cute little notes webbed in its place before booking it out of there and she could faintly hear Jameson's yelling.
Despite the grim situation she was, she couldn't help but chuckle at the yells.
Perenna landed on the next skyscraper building top over and changed into it, leaving her clothes neatly folded in a crevice in the cement so no one would steal them, however unlikely it would be with how high up the building was. But it never hurt to be careful.
Speaking of careful though, the newly 'revived' Spider-Woman thought as she swung toward the Westside tower, this 'meeting' had 'trap' written all over it. She knew it was a trap, but Otto had MJ and she couldn't let her friend get hurt, not the day before her wedding no less.
She arrived at the building at 3, the worse for wear looking man gazing at her in apathy. "Where is she?"
"She's fine, why don't we have a little chat." Otto replied coolly and one of the 'pods tried to grab her.
Spider-Woman jerked out of the way before she tackled him head first and they both fell off the building. They hit several buildings on the way down, punching and clawing at each other until they hit the roof of the passing train beneath them.
Otto stood back up first. "Come on." He challenged.
Spider-Woman pursed her lips before getting back to her feet and trying to web him, though one of the 'pods cuts through it and another tried to hit her. She knocked it away before taking the advantage and leapt forward, punching him square in the jaw. Otto flew back, but one of the 'pods shot out and grabbed a hold of one of her feet, making her lose her balance and dragged her back with them.
The 'pod slammed Spider-Woman against the window of the train, shattering it and she heard the people inside scream in surprise. She was pulled back up and slammed back down onto the train top, denting it.
"Not bad for a couple of freaks." Otto remarked.
Spider-Woman groaned as she got back to her feet, the wind brushing her hair into her face. "Speak for yourself."
"I speak for us both. You have the greater power-power I need." Otto replied. "But I have the strength of knowing what I am. I embrace my freak nature. I revel in it; you will always be fighting against it...that is why you will lose this battle." He added before one 'pod struck her back down again before heading to the front of the train. "Now," he said as another 'pod shot into the front of the train, pulling out with the brake lever and tossed it at her, "I believe you have a train to catch."
Spider-Woman stared at the man as he gave her a mocking salute and jumped off the train and onto the building by it, the 'pods digging into the concrete to keep him from falling. Her spider sense showed her that the track the train was on wasn't complete and as the train speeded past the station faster than it should go, she headed to the front and looked into the front cart at the frantic old man engineer.
"Help! I can't stop it, the brakes are gone!" he shouted over the roar of the wind.
Spider-Woman jumped down to the front of the train car and thinks for a second about trying to plant her feet against the tracks, but thought better of it before holding out her hands and launching several webs at the buildings. The webbing snapped though.
"Any more bright ideas?" The engineer snarked.
"Yeah, I got a few." Spider-Woman replied, though she was practically lying through her teeth; she only had one idea left.
She launched web line after web line at buildings on either side of her, only stopping the webbing and grabbing onto it when she was sure it'd be enough. The force pulled her against the train car, the windows smashing and the metal denting as it was pushed in by the weight. Spider-Woman saw the cut off track coming up, and her arms felt like they were about to be pulled clean off. She finally felt the train slow down, and once she was sure it wasn't going to continue, she let go of the webs.
She felt so tired, that she staggered as her body fell forward and she passed out. When she came to, she was on the floor of the train car, people surrounding her, most of their faces filled with awe or gratitude. Her hand went up to her face, fearing that her mask was gone, but sighed inaudibly in relief that the fabric was still there.
She tried to get up and two of the people graciously helped her stand. There was no call for her blood to get the money, just gratification, and she remembered now why she liked being a superhero.
The moment was broken by the front of the train car being pulled off and Otto appeared in the entrance. "She's mine!"
"You want to get to her, you got to go through me." Someone said and Spider-Woman started at that.
"And me." Another said.
"Me too." A third said and people started to block her from view.
Otto stared back at them. "Very well." He said calmly and two 'pods weaved through the people and pushed them against the sides of the train. A third shoots out and knocks Spider-Woman clean out cold and picked her up, leaving the train without a word before taking a cell phone out of his pocket and punched in a number.
"What?"
"Your father's soul will soon rest in peace, Mr. Osborn. Meet me at the pier."
A/N: Reason for the fact Spider-Woman wasn't unmasked in the train sequence was that her mask wasn't full length and she had no reason to take it off or have it removed.