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My Silent Cohort of Readers -
I see your follows and favorites and I raise you a review. The stakes ain't high and you know your words are worth more to me than gold! ;) I am a starving artist who gains sustenance by reading your reviews...! I've been very hungry lately! That makes me sound like a creepy vampire... I swear, I'm not. (hisses at the sun)
Enjoy the next chapter!
My love,
Pip
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THE STREETS
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One, two, three -
Four, five, six -
Huh, six.
I flex my shoulders and crack my neck from side to side, hopping a little in place. A few of the men look at me, and then at each other, confusedly.
"In case you didn't notice, spandex," says the first in a thick Brooklyn accent, the glint of a gun visible just over his belt. He places his hand casually on the pistol's grip. "There's six of us, and one-a you."
I hold out my hands in a oops, I did break the thing sort of way, calculating just how close I am to the one who spoke, a giant brute of a guy with a typical baggy-jean, XXL army jacket appearance.
"Uhhh," I stutter. "You know," I reply, "Usually I'd have something to say - but - I'm a little rusty." From each wrist, webbing shoots out in one - two - three - rapid fire successions, followed by the second set - one, two, three - the webs smack in small, snowflake-like patterns on eyes, mouths -
One of the guns goes off - I don't know whose, but I'm already springing up and over their heads, twisting midway and landing behind them, letting loose the same web combination.
"One for you, one for you, another for you, two for you," I narrate out loud when webbing collides with each most immediate threat - the hand on the gun, a cellphone in another's hand, the guy already with one small firearm in each hand. Some of them are trying to move out of the way, and the formation breaks.
It's a little harder to get the bad guys when they all move in a panic in different directions.
"Wait, hold up," a strand of web shoots out, catches one guy around the ankle like a lasso, and knocks him heavily onto his stomach. I yank my arms back, simultaneously leaping in the air and planting my feet firmly against the back of the closest man who just didn't have time to react in any way at all.
The one I am reeling in like a fish flies backwards, arms spinning crazily, colliding with the man I just kicked into him. They both crash together, knocking into another, whose hands are fused together with web. As one last preventative move, I give them matching web-anklets, cinching them up tightly together, and for good measure, stick them to the guy who was standing there dumbly with webbing over his eyes. He had made the strange, if slightly logical decision, to stand completely still and not try and do anything at all. Being blinded by the webbing, he lets out a surprised gasp with the other two suddenly barrel into him, and the three of them go down like pins.
I sidestep the human bowling game and run down the alley a few steps to catch up with the others, who thought it was a great idea to run for the dead end.
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BACK AT HOME
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I fling myself from my bed and rush out of my room, sliding across the slick floor and bouncing off the hall wall. I hear a startled yelp from Aunt May before I try to slow down around the corner and casually walk into the kitchen.
"Slow down, speedy," she says, whirling around. "You'll break our apartment."
"Sorry," I say. "I - uh - wanted to discuss something with you."
She raises an eyebrow.
"Something important."
"Okay," she straightens up, throws her towel to the side, and shuts the sink off. "Talk to me."
"Uh, first," I say, clasping my hands behind my back. "I need you to make me promise…"
"What is it?"
"Promise first."
She crosses her arms over her chest. "I… suppose."
"Say it," I argue. She'd find a way to get out of it unless I made her say the exact words.
"Alright, I promise," she holds up her hands in surrender. "What is it?"
"I… I overheard bits and pieces of your conversation with Mr. Stark," I say.
"Which one?" She narrows her eyes.
"When he wanted to keep you in the dark about - the cop," I hesitate. "For your own safety."
"Yeah," she wags her finger at me, "Not a fan of that, by the way. We could still press charges - I mean - I could. An adult."
"Just - Aunt May - slow down, for a second, please," I struggle, "Let me - just - get this out while I still have the nerve."
She takes a deep breath. "I'm sorry. Go on."
"A few things," I say, pulling my hands from behind my back, agitatedly twirling my phone in my hand. "There's more than what - we know. Pressing charges against him is dangerous. One, we don't know who he is working for. It could be someone far more worse, or dangerous, than himself. It's not fair to either of us to put ourselves in his way without knowing the full story."
"What if we never know?"
"Then we move on," I sigh with resignation. "The other thing is, we try anyway, even if it's in our favor - everyone learns my name - your name. All this would be over as we know it. I'd have to sign the Accords. We wouldn't be safe here anymore - I don't know if they'd let you come with me - but I'd probably have to move to the complex. Then everything would have to come from the government."
"Isn't that precisely what you told me about before that night?" Aunt May asks. "I thought that sort of belief is what made Captain America the bad guy."
"No, I'm not saying I'm going to be a fugitive or anything, I'm just not ready for the commitment yet," I reply. "Maybe I… maybe I go to college instead."
Aunt May lets a faint smile creep over her lips. "Yeah. Maybe you do."
"So maybe the government gets my name - or the cop does. And he blasts it to criminal circles and places you, and me, in danger… and maybe someone worse than him gets it before you and I are whisked off to a secure location."
"But it's blackmail," Aunt May's brow furrows.
"I guess. But it's different. Maybe nothing happens at all."
"That's a huge risk."
"It's riskier than taking the bet." I lean against the counter and take a deep breath. "This is where the promise comes in. I think Mr. Stark is wrong about you. As much as you would go into - uh - crazy mode… I think you're smart enough to not grab the nearest baseball bat and chase after this cop." I squint as I hesitate. "Even if you know his name."
Her eyes narrow. "Peter…"
"You promised."
She softens. "I did."
"And he's off limits," I say firmly. "Even if you ran into him in a dark alley and you had the opportunity to bash his head in with - uh - a pipe - you don't. You turn and you walk away."
"Okay, okay, chief," she raises her hands defensively. "I promised - I keep my promises." She lowers her hands, and her tone is careful. "You found his name when you hacked the complex computers, didn't you?"
I nod, a little shamefully. "Facial recognition." The screen had timed out. I click the phone on again and hand it across to her. "But I show this to you with a condition."
She takes the phone with trepidation, her expression neutral - and yet frightening - as she looks over the picture of Officer Casey Cooper. "He looks so… normal." She mutters a few expletives and puts her hand over the screen for a moment, unable to look at him for too long.
"Yeah," I repeat uncomfortably. "Normal."
"I wouldn't have known him from any other cop."
"That's why I am showing this to you." I take a shuddering breath. "If- if you - were to see him - I don't know, if he pulled you over or something - or he drove by the apartment - or he shows up at your work - if he comes near you at all - "
"He won't," Aunt May hands me back my phone. "Mr. Stark said…"
"It doesn't matter," I interrupt. "Mr. Stark has been wrong before."
She pauses. "Yes. He has."
"I want you to know what he l-l-looks like so you can run, away…" my words are starting to jumble over each other. If I don't slow down and take deep breaths, I'll either have a panic attack, burst into tears, or both. "I - I don't know - what would happen - if he's in uniform, and if you were to run into him in public - he has the advantage to abuse his power. We already know what he might be capable of…"
"Then why don't you want to press charges?" Aunt May asks gently. "Aside from… I mean, aside from the fact the physical evidence is healing too super-fast, and your secret identity… I mean - if this is about me, Peter, uprooting my life and then you sign the accords and go public - maybe it'd be worth it, you know? Maybe he is the one going away, and…"
I shake my head vehemently. "Too much of a risk." I bow my head and take another shaky breath. Deep breath in, long breath out. Deep breath…
Aunt May puts her arms around me and gives me a big hug, gives me a smacking kiss in my hair, and steps back. "We'll get through this," she says with assurance. "This is… a lot more complicated than just a kid who refusing to cooperate with a figure of authority."
I fight back a smile. "You being the figure of authority."
"I'm always a figure of authority." She looks at me questionably before stepping backwards to the sink, as if trying to ascertain if my state of mind is requiring further comfort and full attention, or if I am hovering somewhere between semi-okay and normal. "What you want matters to me," she says carefully. "So if you aren't ready to sign and go public - and would rather hope that Stark's precautions are good enough and this bastard never does something like this again - then - we'll do it your way. For now."
"Thank you." I begin to leave the kitchen, and then pause, looking back. "What precautions, exactly?"
She shrugs. "I don't really know, he didn't elaborate much more than his team would have eyes on him at all times and you had nothing to worry about until you agreed to press charges."
Hm. Typical.
"Not going to happen."
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Everyone thank your beta, Queen of Crystallopia. I think a Ned quote from the Spider-Man Homecoming gag real is the most fitting, "Thank you for allowing me to be part of your journey." XD
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tune in next for:
Everybody was Kung Fu Fiightiiiiiing!
Don't forget to check out the latest chapter of "Paint it Black" by your very own beta Queen of Crystallopia
Usually links don't work, so try copying this s/12696603/1/Paint-it-Black at the end of the regular web address, or click on her profile and go find the story!
Next Quiz Question -
What would you like most to see happen in this story? We've done a version of this question before, but it was quite a few chapters ago. Mostly what was requested was more Tony Stark! Which I did ;) What else would you like to see?
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