Part VII of Pretty Much Blind.
Thanks to 25BAM50, spentlizard, Sonar, and a random Anon for reviewing.
It would take at least thirty minutes for Max Dillon to arrive at the police headquarters, where the rest of the team waited up in DeWolff's office. The police chief herself had stepped out for a moment to review the tape sent out by Hammerhead, leaving Peter, Felicia, and Liz to their own devices for the time being.
Felicia was using this time to perform some opportunistic reconnaissance.
"What are you doing?" Peter asked, watching her rifle through DeWolff's desk drawer.
"I don't know. Something worthwhile, I suppose." She straightened up, holding a dusty photograph. "Oooooh, who do you suppose this is?"
Felicia thrust the photo to Peter, who took it. The picture showed DeWolff obviously, younger and with less grey in her hair. There was also a handsome man by her side, who sported a large smile and thick glasses.
"Husband maybe." Peter shrugged and passed it back. "Put it away."
"Who keeps a picture of their husband tucked away in a drawer?" Felicia wondered, turning the picture over in her hands. "What do you think, Liz? Are they secret lovers?"
The blonde girl had been nodding off to sleep in the desk chair, but quickly jolted awake once she was addressed. Sleepily, Liz examined the photo.
"Divorced." She said, a hard yawn stretching her word. "They're wearing rings there, see? But DeWolff wasn't have one now."
"Oh. You're right."
Peter chuckled and leaned against the wall.
"Come on, Felicia. Where are your perception skills? I thought you were the world's greatest detective."
"I think you have me confused with someone else."
As Peter and Felicia went back in forth once more, Liz suddenly perked up. A portion of their conversation had pierced her sleepy veil and struck her brain head on, bouncing around the inside of her skull and getting the gears turning.
"What a minute!" She said, cutting off Felicia's next words. "You two know each other. Like outside of the whole superhero shtick."
Both Spider-Man and Black Cat looked at her quizzically.
"Oh don't give me that look." Liz continued. "You just called her, Felicia."
Black Cat shot a glare at her masked companion.
"Way to go, web-head. Leave it to you to not give a shit about anyone's double identity." She snapped.
"Oh whatever." Spider-Man crossed his arms. "She already knew that you were Felicia."
"Yeah, but she didn't know that you knew and she didn't know that I know who you are too."
"I don't have any idea what you just said."
"So you do know who he is!" Liz jumped up from her chair, fist raised in victory. "Ha! I knew it. Come on, Sister. Who's under this mask?"
Liz bounced over to Peter, leaning in close and causing him to become slightly uncomfortable.
"I don't think you're going to find out." Spider-Man said, warding her off with a gentle push. "It's sort of top secret information."
"It's Peter Parker." Felicia sighed.
Liz screamed.
"OH MY GOD!" She shrieked, slapping her hands over her mouth. "No it isn't! It can't be! Oh, shit. It totally is!"
Peter gave Felicia the most horrible, shrewd glance possible through the lenses of his mask. The Black Cat was impervious to his gaze though, she always had been.
"Did you seriously just say that?" Peter demanded of her.
Felicia shrugged.
"Like a million people already know who you are, what's one more? She has super powers now too, Peter."
"Not for long she doesn't." With the jig up, Peter tugged off his mask. Half to prevent Liz from tearing it off herself, and half because that thing could get a little hot sometimes. "As soon as we can, she's getting sent to a specialist to get whatever transformation she went through reversed."
Liz wasn't listening though, she was babbling on about one thing or another.
"This makes so much sense!" She proclaimed, looking between Peter and Felicia. "You two totally had like, crime-fighting dates and hot roof-top sex, and then you guys broke up and Felicia- OHHH, Felicia. Peter you should have seen her, she was a total wreck after you dumped her. How long have you been Spider-Man, by the way? Since high school? Holy shit. That explains so many things! No wonder you were such a freak!"
Peter silenced her with a glare as well.
"Okay, Liz. Here are the ground rules." He grabbed her by the forearm and steered her back to her chair. She sat down obediently. "You don't tell anyone who I am. You don't tell anyone who Felicia is. And you don't ever, ever tell anyone anything about what happened to you tonight, okay?"
"Why not?" Liz questioned. "I mean, everyone's gonna know what happened to me, right? I was kidnapped and tortured. This has got to be headline news stories, am I right?"
"No." Peter shook his head. "DeWolff's probably going to make it look like you were never a part of this, which trust me, it's for the best. You want a normal life, Liz. You don't want…" Peter gestured between him and Felicia. "This."
"I never said that I wanted to be a superhero or anti-hero or whatever. I just think that this is the kind of crazy bullshit that you tell your grandkids, right?"
"No. For Christ's sake, why don't you understand what I'm saying?" Peter dragged a hand down his face. "Listen, as unlikely as it is, there's a small chance that whatever Hammerhead did to you will be irreversible. If that's the case, then people, bad people, could try to use you as a weapon if your story gets out there. You don't want that to happen again, do you?"
Liz groans and looks to the floor.
"No. No, of course not." She mumbles. "It would just be nice to have… I don't know. A book or something."
"Yeah, tell me about it." Felicia laughed. "You could call it 'Fire-babe: the adventures of being hot and naked'. I'm sure it would be a hit among kiddos."
The door opened with a sharp click and only his spider-like reflexes prevented Peter's identity from being revealed yet again. It was Officer Johnson. He looked at the assembled crew once more with the same awe and surprise that he did on the roof, even though he supposedly knew what he was walking into this time.
"Uh, Captain DeWolff is waiting downstairs with Electro." He said with a slight cough. "Those mutants have been sighted at Empire State and she's already prepping a van to take yall out there. So… come on. I guess."
Spider-Man nodded and motioned for Felicia.
"Thanks, officer. Keep up the good work. You're the heart of the city. Did you know that?" Spider-Man slapped him on the shoulder.
"Uh… no?"
"Well now you know."
Liz jumped up from her seat.
"You guys are going out to fight my brother." She said.
"Obviously," Felicia rested her hands on her hips. "You wanna come?"
"Yes."
"No." Spider-Man said immediately. "It's too dangerous. You could get hurt."
"Or she could help us." Felicia pointed out.
"Or she could accidentally hurt someone else." He shot back.
Liz cut between them again before Felicia could respond. She was starting to get a little sick of their constant bickering.
"Who said anything about me fighting anyone?" She asked, a little wearily. "I just have an idea."
"Well let's hear it. We need to get moving." Spider-Man said.
"It's my brother." Liz explained. "He doesn't want to be a part of that group, just like I didn't. If I can just talk to him, maybe I can get him to switch sides. Hell, maybe I can talk all of them down if you just give me a chance."
"No." Spider-Man shook his head, refusing her once more. "Hammerhead wants you back, I'm sure of that. If we take you out in the open, away from here. Then you'll be in danger of him kidnapping you again."
"Not if we're right by her side, protecting her, Spider." The Black Cat grabbed his wrist. "Come on, this could work. Haven't you always preached the non-violent approach to situations?"
"These guys are different than your average crooks, Cat. You know what they can do, and Liz does too. It's just too dangerous."
"Yeah, guys." Johnson interjected. "Sorry, but we really need to go. DeWolff is waiting down out front."
Spider-Man nodded in agreement.
"Alright. Liz, stay here." He said.
"Liz, let's go."
"Cat!"
"Oh come on, Spider. You really think that leaving her here by herself with all these doofs of police officers is any safer than being out there with us? If Speed Demon shows up, at least we'll be able to do something out there. In here, Liz is just as much as a sitting duck."
Spider-Man looked ready to pull his hair out, looking between Felicia, Liz and the confused Johnson in quick succession.
"Fine! Whatever!" He threw his hands in the air and turned away. "Liz, you stay right next to Cat no matter what and if anything bad happens, it is not on my ass!"
Felicia grinned and shot Liz a thumbs up, as Johnson lead the way through the police station and down and out to the street below. As the motley crew passed through the main lobby, a police officer behind a desk called out to Spider-Man.
"Yo, Spidey!" He said. "You rule!"
"No, man!" Spider-Man shot a few finger guns in his direction. "You rule!"
Liz rolled her eyes. Only Peter Parker could be that much of a fucking dweeb. How could she not have seen it sooner? Whatever his level of dorkiness was though, Liz couldn't deny that everyone seemed to like Spider-Man now. Even she used to stay up late, watching the evening news and getting excited whenever some amateur footage showed him swinging from the skyscrapers.
Now it wasn't on the television. Now it was real life, and Liz couldn't be any less enthused by this prospect. Sure meeting Spider-Man and the man underneath the mask was cool in all, it was just that her knees couldn't stop shaking as they exited the building and crossed the street to the police van parked on the opposite curb.
Johnson opened up the rear doors and climbed inside, the Black Cat was next, followed by Liz and finally Spider-Man. As the doors shut behind them, Liz got a good look at the van's other occupants. One was DeWolff, looking at her questioningly, obviously about to ask why she was here, and then another man. The man was the one that drew her attention the most.
He was completely bald and his face was a mass of horrible burn scars, distorting whatever human features were normally there and giving his head a rather disgusting, smooth quality. From head to toe, he was clothed in a pitch black suit, resembling everyday scuba gear, but probably worth three times as much. There wasn't a doubt in her mind as to who this man was.
"Max." Spider-Man said, taking the seat across from him. "It's… good to see you again."
"Is it really?" Electro smirked, crossing his arms. "Seems like most of the tine we see each other, someone dies."
"Well not today, right?"
"Yeah. Not today."
The two freaks of nature shook hands then, dispelling a past riddled with unfortunate circumstance and planting the seeds for a new bond.
"So…" Spider-Man examined him carefully. "Do you remember… anything?"
"Before waking up in police custody?" Electro clarified. "No, no I don't. I remember the accident, years ago on that roof, and then just waking up in the hospital. A whole three years of my life just gone without me even knowing. I had the details filled in for me though, I know about you, and… what I did, and Oscorp."
He said the last word with a shiver, obviously uncomfortable discussing his time there as Smythe's prisoner, even if he didn't remember it or whatever.
Spider-Man breathed a sigh of relief, years ago, during his final battle with Electro, Peter had reveled his identity to him in a last ditch effort to break Electro from his already well shattered mental state. It had failed of course, but luckily Electro seemed to have no recollection of knowing Spider-Man's true identity.
Or at least that's how it seemed to be, as the two of them rode together in the back of that van, with Electro looking at Spider-Man as nothing more than a rival turned partner.
DeWolff nodded to Liz.
"And why is she here?" The police woman asked.
"She's here to help." The Black Cat explained from her seat next to Spider-Man. "It's possible that she might be able to talk down her brother and the Exterminators."
"The Exterminators, huh?" Electro repeated with another lopsided smirk that caused Liz's stomach to crawl. "Wow, they must be running out of team names." He looked around the van, taking in Spider-Man, the Black Cat, and himself. "What do we call ourselves?"
"The Avengers." Liz said immediately.
"No."
"The Defenders?"
"We don't have a name." Spider-Man slapped his knee firmly. "And if we did, you wouldn't get to decide, Liz. You aren't a part of this team."
"Well then who is she?" Electro asked. "Why is she here?"
"I'll explain who she is later." DeWolff assured him. "For the time being, just work with Spider-Man to take down the Exterminators, exclusively using non-lethal force. If we're going to locate Hammerhead's base of operations and Mayor Waters, we're going to need them for questioning."
The window leading from the rear to the cabin slid open to reveal the driver.
"We're getting close to the campus, ma'am." The driver called.
Liz got an overwhelming sense of déjà vu. Her knees began to shake more violently than ever.
"Alright. Thanks, Kevin." DeWolff responded, and then nodded to Johnson, who then positioned himself by the door. "Remember team, non-lethal force only."
"Yeah, yeah. I got it." Electro brushed her off and turned to Spider-Man. "Well, Spidey. Ready to kick some mutant ass?"
"Only if you are." Peter responded, actually a little taken aback by how gung ho Electro was being.
"You bet I am." The electric man cracked his knuckles. "I've been cooped up for far too long. It feels good to stretch my legs every once and a while."
"You're telling me." Felicia's eyes were alight with an almost manic glee. "There's nothing like a little action to get me all hot and bothered."
Liz suddenly pinpointed her déjà vu. She was once again surrounded by lunatics.
"Okay. Get ready." DeWolff pointed towards the doors as the van slowed. "Three, two, one. Go!"
The doors opened and Spider-Man, the Black Cat, and Electro leapt out into the night.
The scene was similar in appearance to the one that took place earlier outside of city hall. Over the low wall that surrounded the campus, Spider-Man could see flashes of orange flame erupting into the sky, accompanied by the many shouts and screams of nearby pedestrians.
"Alright," Spider-Man took charge, leaping up onto the wall and calling down to his associates. "Cat, help the cops with evacuations, get as many people as you can away from the campus and out of harm's way. Electro and I will get to some higher ground."
"What about me?" Liz asked, stumbling out of the van. "I thought I was supposed to stick with Feli- I mean, The Black Cat."
"No." DeWolff put a hand on Liz's shoulder. "You're staying in the van with me and Johnson for the time being. If things start getting out of hand, then we'll get you on the mega phone."
"You really think she's gonna be able to get through to those freaks?" Johnson asked.
"They aren't freaks, they're victims." Spider-Man answered. "If anyone knows what they're going through it'll be her. Come on, Max. Let's go."
Spider-Man leapt into the air and disappeared from sight, followed closely by Electro, whose buzzing accession left the hairs on the back of Liz's neck standing on end. The Black Cat gave her friend a final, little wave before sprinting down the sidewalk, towards the main entrance of the ESU campus.
DeWolff steered Liz back to the shelter of the van as a rather powerful explosion shook the ground at their feet.
"They're gonna blow this place to bits." The police captain pulled her pistol from her belt. "Get ready to move out if we have to."
"Yes, Ma'am." Both Liz and Johnson replied, each watching with wide eyes as another plume of smoke erupted into the sky.
"Dammit, Mark." Liz hissed under her breath. "What are you doing?"
Her question went unanswered, on account of Mark Allen being about fifty yards directly ahead of her and twenty feet straight up. On the roof of the library, Molten Man could launch fiery projectiles into every corner of the campus, insuring mass panic and destruction.
Sandman materialized at his side from a cloud of dust.
"Hey there, Molty. Keep your eyes peeled. Morrie and I just spotted about a dozen cruisers heading our way." Marko said.
"Yeah, I see them over the wall." Allen conjured another fireball in his palm. "Let's see if I can nail them from here…"
Pulling his arm back, Allen set his sights on the flashing lights out in the street, and therefore didn't notice the blur of red until it was too late. Spider-Man slammed into Molten Man's chest with a metallic clang and sent him tumbling away over the edge of the building and down to the ground below.
"Get hot shot!" Spider-Man yelled flipping down onto the roof. "I got the dust bag."
Electro streaked by in hot pursuit of Molten Man, and true to his word, Spider-Man turned to face Marko.
"Hey there, Geodude. Long time, no see. Amirite?"
"Not long enough." Sandman took a step towards Spider-Man. "Didn't you learn not to mess with us last time?"
"If I remember correctly, I totally kicked your ass last time, and if anyone's going to learn a lesson, it's you." Spider-Man dropped to a crouch. "Starting with: 'an intro to getting pulverized' by me."
"Was that a college joke? Man, I really hate you."
"Hey, you picked this place. Not me. I'm just working with what I've been given."
"Oh, yeah?" Sandman lunged forward, fist raised. "Work with this!"
Spider-Man ducked the punch and jabbed upwards, driving his own fist through Sandman's chest and out through his back. There was a soft puff of sand, followed by a low groan from Spider-Man, as Sandman's torso quickly reformed around his arm in a vice like grip.
Spider-Man tried once, twice to tug his hand free, but was unsuccessful.
"Hehe." He looked up at Sandman and chuckled nervously. "You wouldn't happen to consider forgetting that dirt bag comment from earlier, would you? I didn't mean it, not really."
"Nope." Sandman grinned and raised his fist again. "Consider this your first lesson."
"Welp." Peter watched the hardened sand approach his face with impressive speed. "This isn't going to be fun."
In the courtyard below, Molten Man was struggling to his feet after receiving yet another powerful blow from Spider-Man, followed by a twenty foot drop straight down. If he wasn't genetically enhanced, Allen was pretty sure that he'd be dead.
A sharp crackling sound pierced the air, drawing Allen's attention towards the man that had just floated down next to him.
"Stop in the name of the law." Electro demanded, pointing his fingers at Molten Man threateningly. "You're under arrest."
"Fuhhh." Allen groaned, looking at the newcomer. "What the hell are you talking about? You don't look anything like a cop."
"Consider me a new recruit." Electro took a cautious step forward. "Just lie down on the ground with your hands on your head, okay?"
"Yeah, sure. Just give me a- SCREW YOU!" Molten Man suddenly lashed out, hurling a fresh fireball into Electro's chest.
Max Dillon was lifted off of his feet and tossed head over heel into the side of the library with a hard slam. He cried out and slumped to the ground on his hands and knees. A perfect round circle of ash now discolored his suit, but other than that, the fire seemed to have no effect on him.
"Good to know this thing is fireproof." He thought, feeling electricity buzz through his arms and down to his fingertips. "That guy's a dick and a half."
"I have an idea." Molten Man drawled, casually strolling up towards Electro. "Why don't you just stay down, so that I don't have to hurt…"
His words were cut off by the bolt of lightening the struck him in the shoulder, twisting him sideways and causing him to yell out in pain. Electro jumped to his feet before Allen could recover, and drew back his fist, ready to throw an electrically charged punch straight into Molten Man's face.
Before his blow landed however, Molten Man moved with impressive speed, catching Electro's fist in his flaming hot grip. The rubber of Electro's suit burned slowly, but burned nonetheless, filling the air with a horrible, acrid stench.
"You know it's rude to interrupt someone when they're talking." Allen hissed, tightening his grip.
Electro felt the heat building around his arm, no matter how flame resistant his suit might be, he could still be cooked from the inside out. He tried to wriggle free, but couldn't, and then sent another electric jolt down his arm, which was quickly passed onto Molten Man.
He flinched with a grimace but didn't loosen his grip.
"Nice scars." Allen remarked, with a smirk. "How'd you like some more?"
Electro was just about to respond with a rather insulting remark about what Allen could go and do to himself, when suddenly something landed on the ground next to them with a low thud.
"Ah, shit." Spider-Man groaned, rolling onto his back. "Hey, Electro. Don't taunt these guys, they have very short tempers."
"Yeah, I'm figuring that out." Electro responded through gritted teeth. "A little help here?"
Spider-Man flicked his wrist and fired a glob of webbing into Molten Man's eyes, before bouncing to his feet. The webbing was burned away instantly, but before Molten Man could retaliate, there came another interruption, a loud shout.
"Move out of the way, Molty." Morrie Bench sprinted towards the three of them. "I'm coming through."
Allen immediately dropped Electro's wrist and dived out of the way. Quizzically, Electro rubbed his sore wrist and turned to find that a wave of water was suddenly bearing down on both him and Spider-Man.
"Look out!" Peter yelled, leaping towards Electro in a last ditch effort to get him out of harm's way.
It was too late though. The wall of water slammed into both of them and washed them out of the courtyard and all the way towards the border wall. Hydro-Man receded back to the library, rejoining Molten Man and now Sandman on the front steps.
"Nice one, Morrie." Sandman nodded. "What do you say we blow this joint?"
"Not yet." Hydro-Man replied. "Speed Demon is still locating his target. We gotta hold them off for a little bit longer."
"How much longer?" Allen pointed towards where Spider-Man and Electro were getting to their feet. "I think those clowns will be coming back for more in a second."
Bench looked around the courtyard and then back to the library.
"Get in here." He said, opening the door. "Let 'em come to us if they want some more."
Shaking water from his ears, Spider-Man straightened up, causing his back to crack horribly. He offered his hand to Electro, who took it, awarding Spider-Man with a small shock for his troubles.
"Eh, sorry." Electro apologized. "Water doesn't mix well with me, you know?
"Is that going to be a problem?" Peter asked. "If so, you can sit this one out. I'd rather you didn't zap me to pieces if we get a little damp again."
"No, no. It's fine. I just gotta reel in the juice, is all." Electro looked towards the library. "They're retreating, probably holing themselves up for a while. Any ideas?"
"We should get in there before they can set up an ambush." Spider-Man said. "Come on."
They started for the building but stopped when they heard a sharp whistle from behind them.
"Yoo hoo, oh boys!" The Black Cat sang, sliding over the soaked grass to join them. "I've finished helping the feds, consider this campus to be a currently co-ed free zone."
"Good. Now you can get back to Liz." Spider-Man pointed back towards where the van was.
"No I think now's the perfect time to get a piece of the action actually." Felicia started towards the library. "Try and keep up, you two. This is what I do best."
Electro looked to Spider-Man. If he had eyebrows, he probably would have been raising them. Spider-Man just shrugged in response, shook his head, and followed after the Black Cat.
I don't know about you guys, but I've been reading the absolute shit out of "Birds of a Feather" by nine miles to go. To the two of you out there who haven't checked that out yet, drop this crappy story and head over there right now. You won't regret it (maybe).
For those who review: I cannot believe I haven't asked this yet. Who are some of your favorite superheroes?
I like all the basics of course (Spider-Man, Batman, and Iron Man), but I really love The Wasp (Janet Van Dyne), X-23, and Batgirl. Maybe I have a thing for female heroes? That's not so bad, there are worse 'things' to have
Thanks for reading.
- Mike
