Part II of I Believed Them All

Throwing her arms wide, MJ descended upon her two friends.

"You guys came!" She went up onto her tiptoes and slung an arm around each of their necks. Felicia stiffened instantly, deciding that the best defense was to turn into a human statue. Peter, on the other hand, was genuinely happy to see his old friend.

"Of course," Peter hugged her back. "We've been meaning to hang out with you guys for ages."

"Well it's about time," MJ released them and stepped back, giving them both a once over. "Nice skirt Felicia it looks really… affordable." The redhead tapped at her chin with a painted fingernail.

Peter could sense the animosity emanating from his girlfriend in thick, tangible sheets. Time seemed to slow down as Felicia opened her mouth and tilted her head slightly to the left. Peter was familiar with this stance. He had mere moments to defuse the situation before things got out of hand. Thinking quickly, Peter lashed out and grabbed her hand, dragging her around MJ and towards the fourth party member.

"Hey, Felicia, you remember Eddie right?" He put two hands on her back and shoved her towards his co-worker. "Talk to him."

Felicia shot Peter a look and turned to Eddie, putting on what she considered to be friendly smile, but in actuality gave the impression that she was in a serious amount of pain. Now that the girls were momentarily separated, Peter whirled on MJ.

"What?" MJ asked, moving her hands to her hips.

He moved in close, hissing in her ear.

"You know what." He growled. "Put the claws away for tonight. It was hard enough even getting her to come out."

"I have no idea what you're talking about." With an upturned nose, MJ brushed past Peter and joined her boyfriend once again.

Felicia was right. Peter realized. We should have stayed in.

When he joined the group, Eddie was talking furiously to Felicia, waving his hands and grinning like a loon.

"… This would allow for extended flights and increased- Hey, Pete!" Eddie stopped mid-sentence to greet his friend.

"Hey, Eddie." Peter raised his hand to shake and was thoroughly befuddled when Eddie met him with a closed fist. Awkwardly curling his fingers and accepting the bump, Peter turned to Felicia to find that she was barely suppressing a fit of laughter. "Uh- What is this place?" He deflected by gesturing to the club.

"The Bloody Pool," MJ explained. "It's like the hottest place in town. Come on." She hooked her arm around Eddie's and motioned for the other couple to follow.

Despite poking fun at Felicia's social isolation, Peter was just as much as outside the loop as she was. They were two fish out of water, foreigners in an unfamiliar land, completely lost. Though in the end, they were together and both Peter and Felicia could agree that that was a blessing.

Peter watched as MJ pranced up the front steps and stood up to a bouncer twice her size. The woman talked quickly, motioning to herself and gesturing back to the second couple. Eventually the guard nodded, smiled, and held open the door for them.

As the group moved past, the bouncer shot an imaginary bullet from his finger gun at Felicia, causing her to lose control completely and burst into laughter. It was all too much for her; being dragged downtown, spending time with MJ, talking to Eddie about god knows what, and finally being hit on by a bloated security guard. By the time they had officially made it inside the club, Felicia was in hysterics, clinging to Peter for dear life.

"I- Peter, I" She gasped. "I can't do it, I'm sorry. I really tried but I can't do this." Felicia straightened up, wiping at her eyes. "Come on, let's go home."

"No!" MJ lunged back, abandoning Eddie and throwing herself between the pair. "I mean, you just got here."

"And now we're leaving," Felicia tried to get around the woman and reach her boyfriend. "Face it, Mary-Jane, this isn't for us."

"You haven't even done anything yet!" MJ had her arms out wide, creating an effective block. She could have been a basketball player in a past life. "Give it another five minutes, Felicia, please!"

"Ugh. Peter, tell her that we're leaving." Felicia commanded.

Both turned to him, neither having a problem putting the poor man on the spot. Peter took a moment to look between them. There was MJ, his old friend who could cuss him out for hours if he pissed her off. Then there was Felicia, who was infinitely more terrifying when angry. It was an easy choice. He could always escape from MJ, but he would have to deal with Felicia forever.

Forever?

"I think we should stay." He said firmly. "You never know, you might actually have fun."

Felicia frowned at him while MJ bounced, excitedly clapping her hands. Honestly, Felicia had expected Peter to side with her and therefore was more than a little hurt at his final decision. As MJ grabbed Peter's hand and dragged him away, he cast a glance back at Felicia. She was currently displaying another look he was familiar with. Hard, blue eyes, lips drawn in a thin line, slightly flared nostrils. It only meant one thing: he was in trouble.

With an audible gulp, Peter allowed himself to be tugged deeper into the club.

The Bloody Pool was one of the smaller, lesser-known, clubs in the city. Although that didn't prevent it from being crowded as all hell. A small dance floor was in the very center of the main room, currently jam packed with what Peter could assume was the "in" crowd. There was also a bar, equally buzzing, and a set of doors which most likely led to the restrooms.

The entire room was devoid of any normal light sources. No florescent light bulbs, LED's, windows, or even a candle could be seen. Instead there were neon glow sticks hanging from the ceiling on strings and lining the floor, a dimly-lit luminescent border.

Felicia found herself reaching up to activate the night vision of her goggles, but stopped when she remembered she was without her gear, awkwardly disguising the move by brushing at her short hair.

It's a shame really. I should have brought some toys. She smiled to herself, imagining dropping a grenade of tear gas in the middle of the crowd.

Peter watched her smile and felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up, telling him what he already knew. MJ released him and returned her focus to her own date.

"Come, Edward." MJ thrust out her hand, palm down. "Let us dance."

Grinning, Eddie took her by the hand and led her into the forest of bodies, squishing their way between the fleshy trees to find an open spot.

Now alone with his disgruntled partner, Peter coughed once and turned to find that Felicia had vanished. He quickly scanned the crowd to find the back of her head bobbing towards the bar. Zigzagging quickly through the room, he caught up with her just as she ordered a drink.

"Two beers please." She held up the corresponding number of fingers and the bar tender nodded once before ducking away.

When Peter slid up next to her and climbed onto a bar stool, she glanced his way before rolling her eyes and turning back towards the bar. He knew that he should say something. If not make things up to her, then at least smooth things over slightly. His mouth opened, but before he could speak, the bartender returned with the drinks and set them before the woman. She wordlessly nudged a beer over to Peter.

Peter wasn't much of a drinker, never had been. Alcohol and superpowers never seemed like a good combination to him. But he wasn't about to turn down Felicia's offer on this. He took a sip and rested the bottle on the counter again, pressing his palms against the cool glass.

"So…" He began.

"Peter," She cut him off. "How stupid are you?"

It was a straightforward question with an easy answer.

"Very." He sighed.

"I'm not trying to be mean," Felicia shifted to face him. "I just really want to know. I mean, no one can be this clueless."

"I get what you're saying," Peter held up a palm to placate her. "I know you don't want to be here, but I really thought it would be good for us to-"

"No, you idiot!" She flicked him painfully on the nose. "MJ! The only reason she invited us here tonight is to make you jealous of her and Eddie."

This gave Peter pause, he hadn't expected this.

"That's not true. Felicia, you've got it all wrong."

"No I do not. It's so obvious. Only you and Eddie can't see that. Hell, she might even be so deluded, she might not even know."

"Don't talk about her like that." Peter shot at her. "If you weren't badmouthing her twenty-four seven, you might actually see that she's a nice person. MJ would never do something so childish as try to make someone jealous."

"I cannot believe you. Even now you're defending her. Peter," She clasped her hands in front of her, praying to him. "Open your eyes. You're either the most naïve guy I've ever met, or you're so blinded by her damn siren song that you can't see what's right in front of you."

"I can see just fine," He took another swig of beer. "I see that you're the jealous one. Even though I already told you, MJ and I are just friends."

Her lip curled up in a snarl.

" I am not jealous of her," Felicia growled. "Some little brat who hasn't worked hard a single day of her life!"

"Now you're taking it too far." Peter glared at her. "You know literally nothing about her and I asked you not to talk about her like that."

"Well news flash, babe! I don't give a damn what you tell me to do or not."

"Why are you acting like this?!" He demanded. "I just wanted us to spend time with our friends, but you're turning it into some stupid soap opera."

"Your friends, Peter!" She corrected. "I don't like these people and I don't like this place. I'm only here for you dammit! And if you like you're precious MJ so much, why don't you go and get her." Felicia flung a hand out over the dance floor.

"Stop it, Felicia, just stop okay." Peter faced the bar, hunching over his drink. "Just need to calm down for a second."

"No I will not calm down! I've stomached enough of her shit for a lifetime! Tell me, Peter," Felicia gripped his shoulder and forced him to face her. "Where was she when you were about to kill boomerang, or when Jean DeWolff was going to shoot you-"

"Felicia!"

"Or how about when you were having panic attacks every ten minutes, or when you were fighting Alistair Smythe and the Spider-Slayers-"

"Stop it!"

"Where the hell was she when Gwen Stacy kicked the bucket?!"

Peter stood up so fast that the bar stool was flung away, clattering against the floor a few yards back. The music didn't stop and no one really noticed, save for a select few near the center of the argument. Felicia stood up too, positioning herself right in front of her boyfriend.

"What now, Spider?" She asked, leaning towards him. "Are we going to throw down?"

Her words were now so suddenly calm and pointed that he felt the fight drain from him. Then what she had said fully sunk into his brain.

"What?" His mouth hung open for a moment. "Felicia, I would never… what the hell?"

"Hey," A gruff voice spoke from behind Peter. "Is this guy bothering you?"

Felicia felt hot tears prick at her eyes, but she forced them back.

"No," She said, turning away. "He's not." With those parting words, Felicia Hardy disappeared into the crowd.

Peter was completely dumbfounded, having only a slight grasp on what had just transpired. She hadn't been drunk, that was for sure. Her beer had barely been touched. He was just about to set off after her, when a large hand grabbed onto his shoulder.

"Hey man," The gruff voice was still there. "Why don't you grow some balls?"

"Wha-" Peter asked as he turned, but was silenced when a fist connected squarely with his nose.

He stumbled back, tripping over his former bar stool and landing flat on his back. His drunken attacker wasted no time, descending upon Peter and punching the man once again.

"You like that, Parker!?" The voice cried. "I told Watson that you'd get yours!"

The blows didn't hurt Peter, not in the slightest. He was just so surprised that he hadn't fully processed the situation yet. However, something did pierce his mental fog. He recognized that voice, no matter how drunkenly-slurred. It was the same voice that had terrorized his childhood nightmares.

"Flash?" Peter gasped, pushing at the man who was currently crouching atop him. "Flash Thompson?"

"Ah, now he speaks." Flash lashed out with another clumsy punch that missed Peter's head by a mile, thumping feebly against the ground. "You knew this was coming, Pete."

"Yeah, okay." With one small push, Peter dislodged Flash and set him to the side. "I'd love to catch up sometime, pal, but I'm kind of in the middle of something."

Bouncing to his feet, Peter scanned for Felicia once again, but could not locate her like he had before. She was gone.

Another hand landed on his shoulder and Peter whirled to fend off Flash once more, but stopped when he found the bouncer glaring him down.

"The Bloody Pool does not allow fighting." He grumbled, voice rumbling. "We're going to have to ask you to leave." The bouncer shot a thumb over his shoulder to indicate, three more equally-buff guards.

"My girlfriend is here, I need to-"

The bouncer was apparently not in the mood to chat, as he grabbed Peter by the belt and collar, hefting the man into the air and carrying him aloft. They didn't get much action in The Bloody Pool, so the security leapt at the chance to enforce some actual justice. Peter fought the instinct to escape from the weak hold and allowed himself to be flung though the front door, to land in a heap on the street. He quickly got to his feet, but was knocked down again as something slammed into his back. The "something" grunted at the impact and Peter realized that it was Flash.

"Way to go, Parker." he grumbled. "You just ruin everything don't you?"

As Peter lay on the hard ground, squished under his high-school bully, wondering if he was now single or not, he couldn't help but agree with Flash.

The music was a sporadic heavy thumping in MJ's chest, stirring something exciting and primal in her soul. Heard out of any context except the current one, the music would have been quickly deemed awful, but in the heat of club dance, the quality of the music wasn't really on a list of anyone's priorities.

MJ was a good dancer, having many hours of experiences in clubs just like The Bloody Pool. Her body was an undulating personification of rhythm, her flaming red hair spun around her crown like a glowing cape, and her lips moved silently along with words that Eddie never heard nor understood. She was truly a sight to see and quickly became the center of attention.

This was all good and well for her, but very unfortunate for Eddie. The typically clumsy man had the natural awkwardness of your average nerd paired with the unexplained confidence of the Venom, creating a disturbing combination as he spasm-ed along next to MJ.

She laughed as he attempted an unusual maneuver and failed completely. As he recovered, MJ glanced quickly into the crowd searching for Peter or Felicia. She eventually spotted them talking rather animatedly at the bar and MJ paused for a second, watching the pair argue. Peter suddenly stood up and Felicia rose as well to face him.

He looked wounded, positively astounded at something Felicia had said. MJ was frozen as she watched Felicia stalked off, leaving Peter alone. Subconsciously her feet moved of their own volition, though not in the motion of dance. She was being carried towards the bar, towards Peter when something collided with her shoulder.

MJ turned just in time to see Eddie falling towards the ground, but catching himself before he hit the ground.

"Eddie?" She asked over the music, crouching down next to the kneeling man.

"I'm okay!" He answered quickly. "I'm fine, just give me a second."

"Uh- Okay." MJ looked back towards the bar to find that Peter was gone. Another quick glance around proved that Felicia was making her way swiftly towards the bathroom. "Hey, Eddie, why don't you take a break. I'll be right back."

"Yeah, no problem." Eddie kept his gaze fixed on the ground and MJ left him alone.

His vision blurred before becoming focused once more and he watched as a droplet of blood splashed next to his hand on the ground.

"Oh." He said dumbly, forcing himself to his feet.

Eddie stumbled to his left, knocking into a guy dancing nearby.

"Who, dude, look out." The guy grabbed Eddie and held him upright. "Hey man, you don't look so good. Your nose is bleeding."

"Yeah," Eddie brushed off the guy's hands. "It… happens."

Eddie took one last step before falling again, this time flat on his face. He struggled to roll onto his back and watched as the nice guy leant over him, speaking silently. Very slowly, like he was underwater, Eddie brought his hand into his line of sight. A black vein was steadily climbing up his wrist towards his hand, this was joined by another vein, then another.

Well, Eddie thought just before he died. That's new.

The door opened with a loud slam and Felicia didn't bother turning around, just looking into the bathroom mirror to see the very last person she wanted to see.

"What do you want?" She asked, very quickly wiping at her eyes and hoping that MJ didn't see the moisture on her face.

"Are you okay?" MJ asked walking up next to Felicia and putting a hand on the other girl's back.

"Oh yeah, I'm just peachy." Felicia stepped out of MJ's reach. "If you haven't figured it out yet, I came in here for some privacy and it would be in your best interest if you gave me some."

MJ furrowed her eyebrows and examined Felicia.

"You don't like me very much, do you?"

Felicia snorted.

"It's not like you're my number one fan either."

"I don't openly hate you though," MJ assured. "Yeah I can be a little prickly, but you can't seem to stand me at all."

"Listen, Mary-Jane. Now is not the time, nor the place that I want to have this conversation. Just… leave me alone right now."

There was silence for a minute as both the girls regarded each other.

"No."

"No?"

"Yeah, Felicia. It's obvious that something happened between you and Peter. Don't you think it would be good to talk to someone about how you're feeling?"

Felicia laughed in MJ's face.

"You know who you sound like?" Felicia asked, coming down from her sudden burst of laughter.

"Gwen." They both answered simultaneously.

The girls nodded at each other. Even after death, no one could escape Gwen Stacy. Not Peter, MJ, or even Felicia. She is simply everywhere and nowhere at once.

"I know that Peter can be…" MJ thought for a second. "Just completely clueless sometimes."

"Not to mention, infuriating, stubborn, reckless, and dangerous." Felicia added, not looking at MJ.

"Well yeah… I guess." MJ reached up to rub the back of her neck, but stopped herself. "What I'm trying to say is: Peter can be clueless, but he cares about you and he knows you care about him. Whatever you guys were arguing about, it'll blow over in no time and then you'll go back to being," she paused and forced out the last word. "Together."

Felicia shook her head, smiling to herself. She couldn't believe it, one second the redhead was throwing poison barbs, then next she was slinging emotional Band-Aids.

"You're something else, Mary-Jane Watson, do you know that?"

"So I've been told."

Felicia opened her mouth to respond, but was cut off by a shrill scream.

"We should burn this place to the ground! Burn it down!"

"Shut up, Flash."

"You shut up, Parker, before I make you shut up!"

Peter sighed heavily, squeezing the bridge of his nose between two fingers. He was currently sitting on the curb, while Flash paced behind him, repeatedly threatening the establishment they had just been removed from.

"You're drunk, just go home, Flash. Here, I'll get you a cab." Peter made to stand up, but Flash moved quickly, pushing him back to his seat with a sloppy hand.

"No I don't want your damn gab."

"Cab," Peter corrected. "I offered to get you a cab, Flash."

"Yeah! Sure you did!" Flash twisted suddenly and swung his fist towards the building, as if he could punch The Bloody Pool into submission. As his hand flew through the air, the intoxicated man was thrown off balance and tumbled towards the ground.

Peter jumped up, catching Flash under the arms and keeping him from crashing to the ground like a felled tree. After gently lowering his former classmate to the pavement, Peter reclaimed his spot on the curb. Flash abruptly seemed content to just lie in the dirt, since he laced his meaty fingers over his chest and simply looked up at the stars.

"Thanks." He said after a moment.

"Don't mention it." Peter stretched his legs out into the street and stared a hole into one of his sneakers.

"I've been a piece of shit." Flash croaked in response. "I always have been."

Peter resisted raising his face towards the sky and screaming. It was bad enough that he got tossed out of the club, but now he'd have to listen to a simpering, drunken Flash Thompson.

"This is it." Peter spoke to no one. "This is my hell."

"Ever since we were in school," Flash began. "I've always given you a rough time. You were just so smart, you know? And I always had a hard time in school. Football was the only subject I excelled at. Then you took that away from me."

Peter considered getting up and leaving the man to mumble to himself for the rest of the night. Chances were that Felicia ditched the club and was now back at the apartment. He could web swing back there in a matter of minutes, make things up to her somehow, explain to her that MJ held no interest in him.

"You broke my arm just when I needed it most. I couldn't play the rest of the season and none of the recruiters got to see me in action. I got no scholarships, no great opportunities. Everything I had built my future around was taken away from me."

There was also the chance that Felicia was still inside, taking a chance to cool down either in the bathroom or on the other side of the club. If that were the case, she would go looking for him soon and find him gone. She would think he had abandoned her. Left her just like she always feared he would, or how he sometimes wondered if he should.

"I hated you for a long time," Flash continued talking, randomly finding eloquence in his speech despite his fractured state of mind. "But now I'm okay." He turned to face Peter for the first time. "I'm okay now. Are you okay, Parker?"

"Yeah," Peter answered. "I'm okay, Flash."

"I'm sorry about Gwen."

Peter didn't answer. He just kept looking at his sneaker.

"If you ever need anything." Flash swallowed hard and coughed once. "You just ask me and I'm there for you. Just ask man. Don't be afraid to ask…"

A loud snore startled Peter more than anything else. He looked over to his left and found his former tormentor was now fast asleep.

"Thanks, Flash."

That second, a shrill scream tore through the night air, cutting through the music spilling out from the club.

Peter was on his feet in an instant, starting back up towards the club and unbuttoning his shirt as he went. His spider-sense was going haywire and he knew without a doubt that Spider-Man would be needed. With his suit was under his clothes, he could be changed in an instant. As he shook himself out of his jeans, Peter spared a glance back at the sleeping form of Flash Thompson.

There was a loud crash from inside, followed by more screams. Something was inside, tearing the place apart.

"Don't go anywhere now." Peter advised Flash, pulling on his mask and plowing through the doors of The Bloody Pool.