Marian's Guide to Exacting Revenge- the sequel to My Partner in Crime
((Author's Note: If you're wondering....'Who the heck is Marian?!' Then I suggest you read my other Spidey fanfic, My Partner in Crime first. Ahem, read on! ^_~))
She'd been laying low for awhile, giving Spider-man a false sense of security. Perhaps he'd think she'd given up her life of crime, perhaps not, but keeping quiet for a few months now couldn't have hurt anything. After all, the duo had only met once, perhaps he'd forgotten all about her, which would make things even sweeter. It is, after all, much easier to catch a spider when he don't know you're coming.
After the Green Goblin's unfortunate death, Marian had tried to start getting her life 'back to normal'. She took on her old persona once more, or so she made people think, so as not to look too suspicious(after all, her co-workers didn't know she'd started down the path of crime and why should they). She'd tried to make it appear as if she were living a perfectly normal life and to the untrained eye it looked like she was. She was working once more at Oscorp, she'd even gotten a small promotion (no more cleaning up murder scenes for her!), she was hanging out with friends, she was even dating a guy she'd met through a friend at work. Yep, everything was going great, for now at least.
Brian McCowan, her current love interest, wasn't really anyone special to Marian as of yet, they'd only been seeing one another for a few weeks now after all; he was more like someone to have fun with, someone to go catch a movie and have dinner with, which was what she needed in her life right now. Marian had found herself growing to like him more and more everyday however, but something inside was holding her back, something was telling her that she shouldn't get too close or she might give everything away. She knew just what that something was too, the Goblin-ette ((A.N.: That was the name the Green Goblin gave her more sinister side in the first fic, he only said it once though ^_~ )) But still she tried, good battling evil inside of her, in the quest for romantic happiness. During all this time, Marian had also been formulating a plan. Her revenge plan for Spider-man; he would pay for what he'd done to Norman months earlier, she would make sure of that, and by now she was sure she'd come up with the perfect solution. Now that the basic background information is over and done with, let's get to the real story, shall we?
6:00 pm, Marian's apartment...
"Ugh...shoe, shoe...where's my other black strappy shoe?!" Marian muttered to herself, digging under her bed for the missing shoe, however all that she found was an old pair of socks and some dust bunnies. No shoe in sight. Then she heard it, the unmistakable sound of a dog gnawing at something. She hopped up off her knees and hobbled into the main room, she was only wearing one black shoe at the moment and it had a heel on it, which didn't make her sprint towards the noise any easier. Marian placed her hands firmly on her hips as she looked at her new Pug puppy. "Chester!" she called, running over to the small dog and removing the shoe from his mouth. "Brian's going to be here soon and you're making a meal out of my new black shoes, nice timing you have." she sighed as she walked into the kitchen, wiping the dog slobber off the shoe with a dish towel.
The villainess walked back into the living room, taking a seat on the couch as she strapped on her other shoe. Just as Marian stood up to check herself in the mirror once more, a knock came at the door. Chester the puppy gave a small yip and ran towards the door, sliding a bit on the rug before coming to a halt in front of the door, looking up expectantly at it.
Marian wasn't far behind her canine companion, she smoothed out the skirt of her dress once more before answering the door. "Hello Brian! Very punctual, as usual." she said with a flirty smile. Brian was a rather striking man, with chestnut brown hair, piercing green eyes, and a smile to die for. Marian's initial thought upon meeting him had been 'I can't believe he's not already taken...' and so far, his personality had matched his attractive appearance.
"Ah, I wouldn't want to be late, just one less minute I'd be spending with you." Brian said, before producing a single rose from behind his back. "For you m'lady." he grinned, before giving Marian a light kiss on the cheek. Chester, meanwhile, was jumping excitedly at Brian's pants leg, trying to get the man's attention.
Looking down, Brian smiled, bending down a bit to give the puppy a pat on the head. "And hello to you too Chester, always good to see you again." he chuckled, as Chester licked his hand lightly. Marian had gone to put the rose in water and soon returned, smiling at the site. "Ready to go?" she asked, as Brian helped her slip on her jacket.
"Of course," he replied, shutting the door behind them as the pair exited Marian's apartment. "So what first? Dinner? Drinks? Dancing?" he chuckled as he grabbed Marian's hand, spinning her lightly around before she stopped, facing Brian.
"Cut it out!" Marian laughed, shoving herself away from Brian with a playful grin. "Drinks sound great, they'll loosen me up for the dancing." she laughed as she pressed the down button on the elevator.
"Excellent choice." Brian replied with a grin as they stepped onto the elevator, doors quickly shutting behind them.
A small ding echoed through the lobby of the apartment building before the doors slid back open, allowing the young couple to exit the elevator and, soon after, the building. Marian took a deep breath in as she stepped outside, she loved autumn in New York City; it always made her feel more alive. Perfect weather for taking care of a little business...wouldn't you say? Rang an all too familiar, evil voice inside of her head. She nodding in agreement, a sinister grin sweeping across her features before...
"You going to get in the cab or what?" a voice called to her, breaking her from her train of thought.
"What? Oh...r-right, sorry." Marian called back to her date, sliding carefully into the cab, Brian following her lead.
"Take us to Brennan's, corner of 5th and West Haven" Brian told the cab driver, who immediately sped off NYC cabbie style. ((A.N.: Um...lol, I don't live anywhere near NYC and it's been a few years since I've been so...you'll just have to forgive my made up street and bar names! ^_^;;))
The cab soon pulled up in front of Brennan's, a swank martini bar best known for it's great live music and fun atmosphere. Brian hurried out of the cab first, holding his hand towards Marian to help her crawl out of the cab.
She gladly took his hand, sliding out of the cab just as carefully as she'd gotten in. Brian quickly paid the driver before walking into the bar with his date. The two were quickly seated in a small booth and placed their orders, both of them ordering a gin and tonic.
Not long after, their drinks were brought to them, Marian folded one ankle under the other as she sat, sipping at her drink. "Awfully large drinks they make here aren't they?" she mused, swirling her straw around.
"Yea, for an awfully large price." Brian countered with a smile, he was only joking of course, price didn't matter much to him when it came to Marian. Unlike her, he had grown quite fond of Marian in the past few weeks they'd been seeing each other. He didn't just want someone to have fun with on a lonely night, he wanted a relationship.
"So shall we eat here or go somewhere else? I'm actually enjoying myself right here and the music is great!"
"Perfect for dancing hmm?" Brian asked with a smile. Marian nodded in response, chuckling a bit as she gave him a skeptical look.
"Are you sure you want to see me dance? I haven't done it in awhile for a reason, it's because I look like a spastic doing it and I feel just as self conscious." she admitted, looking a trifle embarrassed.
"I'm sure it's not all that bad, a girl as exquisite as you couldn't possibly make herself look bad, no matter how hard she tried." he said, taking a swig of his gin and tonic.
"Oh, I um...thank you." Marian replied, busying herself with looking down at the menu so as to hide the blush which had appeared on her cheeks.
Brian simply smiled at this, picking up a menu as well. "Well I vote for eating here. We can do all three in one stop."
"Sounds like a good plan to me." Marian said, folding her menu back up as she decided on her meal for the night.
"Will the two of you be having anything else this evening?" a waiter asked, wandering up to their table.
"Yep, I believe we'll be having a little dinner. I'll have your regular burger and fries and the lady will have..." Brian trailed off, looking towards the blonde seated before him.
"I'll have a chicken Caesar salad." she said, handing her menu to the waiter, who jotted down their orders and took off. "Wow...this is a great place!" Marian commented, glancing around the hopping bar, which was filled with all sorts of people from within the city of New York. Young and old, everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves, a few brave souls had even started to venture out onto the dancing space as an up tempo jazz band began to play.
"What do ya say?"
Marian glanced up from her seat to see Brian standing in front of her, holding his hand out as he looked towards the dance space. "Want to give it a go? There's already a number of people out there, I promise no one's going to notice if we mess up." he said.
Reluctantly, Marian placed her own small hand in Brian's, before he gently pulled her up and walked the two of them out to the dance floor. She started off slowly at first, but soon grew more comfortable with the dancing the more she did it. Sure she might not be the world's best dancer, but neither were many of these other people and she was having a blast! Brian twirled her around a few times and she would laugh, twirling him back in return. This dancing went on for quite sometime before Marian noticed their food had arrived.
"What do you say we," she gasped for air as she was quite out of breath, "take a break for a bit. I see our dinner over there anyway." she had to yell into Brian's ear over the music.
He nodded, taking her hand once more and leading the two through the crowd and back to their table. They ate quickly after exerting all that energy, ordered one more drink, and were soon on their way out the door.
"How about a carriage ride through Central Park?" Brian asked, glancing over at Marian.
"A what?" she asked, wrinkling her nose up a bit. "But...those are for tourists. I don't think we..."
"They're not just for tourists, c'mon it'll be nice" he cut in, giving her a mock pleading sort of look.
"Oh alright! Just stop with the face!" she laughed, shoving him playfully away. Marian spotted a horse drawn carriage not far away and she started running towards it, slowly albeit because of her heeled sandals, but running none the less. "I'll bet I can beat you over there!" she called back to Brian, laughing as she ran.
"What?! No way, not in that dress!" he called after her, laughing as well, as he easily caught up with her. He ran up behind her, grabbing her firmly around the waist and spinning her around a bit, before gently dropping her back on her feet. "Told you I could..."
But Brian was cut off this time, Marian had leaned forward, placing a firm kiss on his lips before eventually pulling away. She looked into his eyes for a moment before leaning back, a smile tugging at the sides of her painted lips.
Brian just stood there for a moment, rather stunned, Marian had never kissed him like that before. Sure they'd have the usual small peck or whatnot after each outing together, but she'd never given him any hint she wanted more than just a 'dating buddy'. Was this it? Was this her hint? He certainly hoped so. Brian smiled back down at her, slipping a hand across her shoulders as the two walked up to the driver of the carriage. "A trip through Central Park if you please." Brian said, before helping Marian step up into the carriage. The driver nodded and Brian took his seat beside Marian, draping an arm across the back of the seat as they took off.
Marian felt better than she had in quite sometime, since the death of the Goblin and it was all thanks to the man seated beside her. Don't get too comfortable with him! You know you can't! It will all just turn out bad! Besides...you've got bigger problems to deal with, like ridding this city of Spider-man! No time for these romantic head games! The Goblin-ette snapped in her head.
Marian shivered slightly, trying to shake the voice off, now wasn't the time to be thinking about things like that.
"Something wrong?" Brian asked.
"N-no." Marian lied with a forced smile, "just a bit chilly out here."
Before she knew it the date was over, but Marian had been rather silent the rest of the carriage ride, she'd been too busy thinking about what the voice in her head had been saying. Revenge. She could feel herself slipping back into her more villainous side and truthfully, it felt rather good to be back there. Memories had started to flood her mind, of she and the Green Goblin working together. She'd had a blast with him and still would be to this very day if it weren't for that wretched Spider-man! Brian walked her back up to her door and she turned to face him, still bearing a forced grin.
"I had a nice time...thanks Brian." she said, leaning upwards and giving him a light kiss on the cheek.
He stood there for a moment, smiling a bit disappointedly as he nodded. "Yea...me too. Call you later?"
"Yea sure. Night." she said distractedly, as she hurried into her apartment, shutting the door behind her.
Brian sighed as he turned to head back to the elevator. "Just when I thought this relationship was starting to take off too..." he muttered miserably, stepping on as the elevator doors shut behind him.
Marian threw off her coat, letting it land on the couch beside her puppy, Chester, who had been sleeping there while she was gone. She walked back to her bedroom, flipping on the TV and flinging off her shoes before she walked into the adjoining bathroom to begin washing off her make-up.
"...and in other news, disaster was stopped again as Spider-man swung onto the scene."
Marian rushed out of the bathroom to watch the TV news report, her eyes narrowing dangerously thin as the camera panned to a shot of Spider-man in action. Saving the day again by rescuing a little girl who had run out into the middle of a busy street to retrieve her toy.
"God Bless Spider-man." the mother was saying, holding the child tightly as the two looked at the camera. "If it weren't for him, Leslie might not be here today. I thank you, Spider-man, from the bottom of my heart."
"Oh, isn't that touching?" Marian asked, putting on a falsetto sweet tone before her features took on a much more disgusted, angry look. "Blasted Spider-man! I wish a truck would've hit him...but then what fun would that leave me?" she questioned to herself, giggling a bit as she tossed her wash cloth into the sink. "I would like to see Spider-man as nothing more than a bit of paste on a busy freeway though." she commented, grabbing the wash cloth back up and wringing it angrily in her hands. "He's always saving people, doing so much good...well why couldn't he have saved Norman?! Apparently, the little spider isn't as wonderful as some make him out to be. Well no matter, Spider-man will soon get his comeuppance, I'll be sure of that." she cackled, smiling sinisterly into the mirror at her reflection.
Her little speech was interrupted by the phone ringing. She raised a curious eyebrow as she walked over and answered. Her voice sounded different now, it had taken on it's more sultry tone which, of course, meant only one thing. Marian had been squashed once more and the Goblin-ette was in charge. "Hello?" she called seductively into the phone.
"Marian?"
"Who is this?" she hissed impatiently.
"I...It's um, it's Brian!" the voice on the other end finally got out. "I just wanted to...make sure everything was alright."
"Everything's fine!" she snapped, brows furrowed angrily as she sat down on the edge of her bed, phone in hand.
"Well...ok then...I wanted to know if you maybe wanted to hang out later this week? Maybe Friday night? We could go see a movie or something?"
Marian gave a sultry laugh into the phone, shaking her head as if Brian were able to see her. "No, I'm afraid I can't do that. Something has come up and I have more important things to do then 'hang out' with you on a Friday night. How desperate do you think I am?"
"What? I...you're no desperate. I was just wondering if maybe you wanted to..."
"I don't want to do anything with you, you dim-witted imbecile!" She growled, angry that this guy was wasting her precious scheming time. "I'll thank you to leave me alone, now good night!" Marian said, before clicking the off button on the cordless phone.
Brian sat, staring at the now buzzing receiver, before he too hung up. "Good night..."