FATR: This chapter is dedicated to my dedicated reader, NatzandtheRatz. Wow, I'm sorry I was in such an off the wall mood last time I UDed. I forgot to mention that in chapter 12 I accidentally wrote something about pastel "floor" paintings instead of "floral," in case you hadn't figured that out. I proofread five times, I have no idea how that snuck past me, but it did, and I'm sorry. I don't own any of the t-shirts in this chapter. Zip, nada, zilch, nothing. The juice bar shirt mentioned in thirteen is in my possession but I bought it at an Eckerds (I know that's spelled wrong, and I'm sorry for that too) in The Keys. If it wasn't such a pain to fix typos on this site I'd go back and edit, but it is so much easier to do it this way. A message to you poker players out there: If I made mistakes, I apologize now. I researched, but not in great depth. Don't be deterred from correcting me, I accept legitimate creative criticism if it will help me in the future, but do so gently. No need to get all flamey over a technicality. I made aces low because I like how it rounds out the deck. Starting with 2 seems so unbalanced. This picks up right where 13 left off, because it was originally one in the same chapter, so go back and review what happened if you forgot.
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Stephanie tried to shake off the mood Mac had just put her in as she followed him into the room. This room was done up almost just like a bar, with bar stools, card tables, booths, except for the couch and arm chairs in the middle of the floor. Stephanie had noticed that master Fisk really had a thing for arm chairs when it came to decorating. With his size she wasn't surprised. Max and Quinton were in there already sitting on the couch but she didn't see Otto. Quinton wore a t-shirt with the sleeves ripped off. Max was dressed like a teenager, baggy jeans and a black t-shirt that read 'You can't have manslaughter without laughter.' She plopped down between them, threw an arm around each man's neck and grinned. "Hey boys. How's it hangin?"
Max's eyes flicked to his lap and back to her face. "About the same."
Stephanie removed her arm from his neck and smacked his shoulder. "You know I didn't mean it that way."
Quinton raised an eyebrow. "'About the same'?"
Max grinned devilishly and started to say something.
"Never mind," Quinton held up a hand. "I don't want to know."
Mac snuck a glance at Stephanie from the bar. Look at 'er, sittin there with her arm 'round Quinton's neck. She's teasin me, she jus' won' le' it go!
Stephanie leaned away from Max and flashed him a strange look when he leaned noticeably closer to her neck. "What are you doing?"
"You smell good," he shrugged.
"That is generally the point of taking a shower," Stephanie answered.
"What is it?"
"Cocoa butter," Mac jumped in. "I helped 'er reach 'er back."
Quinton gave Mac an amused look. He knew Mac was really trying to tell Max to back the hell off of Stephanie. "What, you want a cookie or something?" Quinton quipped.
"I like it," Max grinned and grabbed Stephanie, burying his face in her neck.
"Ack! Rape! Molestation! Help!" Stephanie laughed.
Quinton smirked at Mac, as Mac glared daggers at Max, who remained blissfully unaware.
Otto walked in. "Who's raping who?"
"Max is raping Stephanie, " Quinton answered.
"Oh, good, for a second I thought there was a problem."
Stephanie stopped in her position on her back across Max's lap with both of her hands around his wrists trying to keep him from tickling her. She glared indignantly at Otto and exclaimed, "Hey!"
The octopus man chuckled. The top two tentacles shot out and started doing stuff at the bar at immense speeds while he remained leaning on the bottom two. "Might I fetch you anything, my dear?"
She sat up. "Just a water." Less than a minute later, she accepted the glass from the out stretched tentacle. "Thanks..." That was fast.
Dammit! Now he's doin it too! Mac ducked out of the way and found his way to the arm chair. "Yah look like shit," he commented calmly.
Otto laughed. "Pleased to see you as well." The tentacles returned, one bringing a drink to his lips.
As soon as she put her glass down, Max grabbed Stephanie again, pulled up the edge of her shirt, and blew a raspberry on her stomach. She screamed and tumbled onto the floor.
"Now, now children. It's all very funny until someone is injured," Otto scolded.
"Then it's fucking hilarious," Quinton added.
Stephanie gave him an accusatory look. "You know, I read something like that on a shirt somewhere."
Quinton shrugged. "So I'm not that great at on the spot comedy." He turned to include the others. "What's the game? Texas hold em?"
Stephanie sat up and crossed her legs, leaning back on her palms."I've never played any kind of poker before."
"In tha' case, le's play strip poker."
"You already saw me in my bra, what more do you want?" The look he gave her made her sorry she had asked. He had, strangely enough, possessed the decency to back off while under the impression she was a devout virgin but now that the truth was out the pursuit was back on.
"Indian poker is pretty easy," Max offered.
"Oh, come on," Quinton scoffed. "That retarded little game could hardly be called poker."
"Other than tha' it involves bettin," Mac agreed.
"Well I think it's fun," Max pouted.
"As do I," Otto agreed. They all looked at Stephanie. "I suppose it's up to you, my dear."
"I'll give it a go, sure."
"Dim the lights, Max," Quinton gestured as he moved to one of the tables.
Stephanie cocked her head at Max as the bulb flickered and faded. "Dim the lights?"
"Max and I ran quite a scam on them for almost two weeks," Otto explained as he removed his glasses. "He would sit across from me and all of his cards would be reflected in my glasses. Afterwards we split the winnings." She still looked puzzled. "You shall see."
"Yeah, Otto sure is a pain when it comes to playing cards. Those arms of his will make you paranoid as hell," Quinton laughed.
Max took a seat between Otto and Quinton and began shuffling the cars. "You're face makes me paranoid as hell," he muttered.
"What was that?" Quinton asked fiercely.
Max's eyes stayed on the cards and he sarcastically mouthed 'what was that?' but aloud answered, "I didn't say nothin."
"You're damn straight," Quinton grumbled.
Max disregarded him. "Each person gets one card and puts a dollar in the pot. He then shows the card to everyone at the table but isn't allowed look at it himself. Starting from the left of the dealer, a person can either stay or bet. For example, if Otto deals, and I don't want to bet, it moves to Quinton. If Quinton places a bet, everyone who wants to stay in matches it and the next person to the left can raise it."
"Why all that to the left business?" Stephanie asked.
"It keeps the game more organized. We used to end up with two people trying to raise at once. It can get chaotic and a little violent." Max gave Quinton a pointed look as he spoke these last words. Quinton's lip curled into a snarl but he remained silent. "The game continues until the deck is gone. We play Aces low. The suits from highest to lowest are spades, hearts, clubs, diamonds." The human capacitor slid the deck to Stephanie. "Would you like to be the sexy dealer?"
"I'll leave that to Otto," Stephanie laughed and slid the deck to the octopus on her left.
Otto shuffled the deck once and began passing out the cards. "Sexy, am I?"
"As far as men with four metal arms welded to their backs go." Everyone put a dollar in the middle of the table.
Max took his card and held it up. "So, what was this business about Mac seeing you in your bra?"
"And when do me and Max get our turn?" Quinton asked, observing the other players' cards.
She rolled her eyes. "The only reason he saw me in my bra is because he doesn't know how to knock."
"What? You mean you don't lock your door?" Max threw a quarter in the center of the table. "I raise." There was a chorus of clinks as everyone matched.
Quinton nodded. "My door is generally locked. I see your quarter and raise it a dollar."
Stephanie rolled her eyes. "Fine, from now on I'll keep my door locked."
Max eyed Quinton's 6 of hearts nervously and hesitated before matching. Was he bluffing? It wasn't a horrible card but it wasn't a great one either. It was the highest card he could see at the table. The odds that his card was higher were pretty good, but... When it came to Stephanie she bit her lip and her eyes flicked to Max's card. She hadn't matched yet, neither had Otto. Max raised an eyebrow at her and her eyes moved to Quinton and Mac. They then drifted down and she seemed to think. An amused smile played across her face and she put her card face down on the table.
"I'm out."
Otto thought for a moment longer and finally followed Stephanie's example. The remaining three looked at each other, alarmed, each wondering what card they held.
Max shifted nervously as the bet moved to him. With your luck you probably have the ace of diamonds. Mac was tapping his four of clubs on the table and didn't seem to be paying much attention to the other players. Quinton seems so sure of himself. Was Stephanie laughing at me or him? Quinton could know how insecure I am. Perhaps he's bluffing, using it against me. He cracked each knuckle on his right hand individually while he thought.
"Knock it off with the fire works and move already," Quinton growled impatiently.
Oh, god, he sounds like he really knows what he's doing. I can't bluff now, I've been so hesitant he must think he has a bloody Jack or something. I already matched so it would be stupid to fold... "I'll pass."
Quinton caught the insecure tone in Max's voice and decided to use it against him. He had no idea what his own card was, but he knew Mac had a piece of shit card. Even if Max's eight is higher than whatever I have, it's real easy to psyche him out. Almost too easy. "I raise a dollar."
"I see yah dollar and raise yah another."
Max and Quinton looked at each other. Max matched and passed again but Quinton raised it two bucks this time. Mac chuckled, matched, and raised. Quinton leaned back to contemplate this and stared at the back of his card as if he possessed x-ray vision. His resolve was wavering at the steepness of the price. Was Mac really more of a threat than he had originally believed? And Max was still matching, though he was showing signs of wavering. If, however, Max did stay in, Quinton knew the chances were slim that his card could stand up to an eight of spades, and Mac had laughed about something... "I'm out," he grumbled.
Max suddenly felt more confident. True, Quinton hadn't known that he held a six, but still, Max knew the odds that his card was better than a four of clubs were in his favor. This time Max matched and raised, and so did Mac.
Mac didn't feel like he was playing for the money, he felt more like he was playing to put Max in his place. Steph's mine, lightnin' boy. I'll show yah who's boss. Mac was pissed by Max's apparent oblivion to what was happening around him. Max was always bouncing off the walls, lost in some happy land of his own. The human conductor was bad at poker be cause he always fell victim to the bluffs. It was sad, really, but it made the rest of them rich. Even now he seemed to be debating dropping out.
Max looked uncomfortably around the table, trying to read expressions. Otto was always impossible to read, unless he wanted to be read, but Stephanie had a terrible poker face. She saw Max looking and gave him a half smile. "I see your five and raise you five." Mac tossed it in and raised, not really thinking anymore. Max wavered again. Oh, damn, what if I really do have a card lower than the four of clubs? Shit. I suck at this. I can't win unless I cheat, I... He thought about Stephanie's smile. "I... I..." He paused. "Match... and call?"
Mac tilted is head and raised his chin a little. "Yah askin me or tellin me, lightnin' boy?"
Max's expression hardened. "I call." Both of them threw down their cards.
Mac pounded his fist on the table. "Dammit."
Max beamed (almost literally), collected his money, and the game continued. Stephanie noticed that Otto kept tending to drop out of the betting early and wondered why. She would have expected him to be good at cards. What was his strategy? "How did you all come across your powers, anyway?"
"My experiment exploded," Otto answered.
"I used to be a linesman, and one night at work I got struck by lightening," Max explained.
"Tha' guy who owns the Bugle mutated me tah catch and unmask Spider-Man."
Stephanie looked at Quinton, who had remained quiet. "What's your story?"
"I was a special effects engineer, and a stuntman."
"What happened?"
"One of my special effects went awry." Quinton was being deliberately vague.
"I believe he is trying to say he doesn't actually have any powers," Otto explained. "He's more of a talented villain than a super villain."
Mac stared. "Then how'd yah make tha' guy float like tha'?"
Quinton glared pointedly at Otto. "I have powers. The good doctor here just doesn't believe in magic."
Otto gave Quinton a sly smile and took the deck as deal once more returned to him. That's what you say but I know how you do it. That smoke bomb trick last night was so easy a child could have done it.
The game went on and Stephanie noticed Otto was beginning to make a comeback, small at first but steadily gaining momentum. The deal came back to her and she spoke as she passed out the cards. "How about this: If you could have sex with anyone in the world, who would it be?"
"Shathra," Mac and answered instantly.
"Really?" Quinton asked. Then he shrugged. "Well, a bug for a bug, I guess..."
"Scorpions are arachnids," Otto muttered.
Quinton ignored him. "I'd take a threesome with Calypso and Shriek."
"Forget the local chicks, I would choose Poison Ivy," Max grinned.
"Oh, yes, death by poisoning is so hot," Quinton laughed.
"Hey, you can have sex without kissing," Max shot back.
"Wouldn' wanna blow job from 'er though," Mac muttered as he placed his bet. They all laughed, and even Otto smiled a little, though he mostly stayed out of the conversation. Mac gave Stephanie a half smile. "An' you?"
She blinked. "Me?"
"Yeah. Who would yah sleep with, Steph?"
She smirked at the giant arachnid. "Catwoman." The others looked at each other. Even Otto suddenly became involved.
Max finally broke the silence with, "I did not see that coming."
"So are yah bisexual or..."
"Nope, straight up lesbian."
Otto stared at her. She's not a lesbian. "You're not a lesbian."
"Am so. Her name was Shannon. She was my lab partner in my twelfth grade biology class. She went away for college and I haven't been in a serious relationship with anyone before or since then."
Otto shook his head slowly. "You can't pull one over on me. My pets know when people are lying."
Stephanie laughed. "Okay, okay, I surrender."
Max cocked his head. "Have you really only fucked one person or was that also part of the story?"
"Why do you assume a 'serious relationship' involves fucking?" Max shrugged and Stephanie turned her eyes to the tabletop in thought. When the bet came back to her she picked up her card and threw ten bucks in the center. "Only two. And you?"
Max folded while the others matched her raise of five. He laced his fingers behind his head and leaned back to think. "Four."
"Only?" Quinton snorted. "I've got eleven notches on my bedpost."
"Yes but she asked how many different people, not how many times total," Max retorted.
"Then why did you answer how many times total?" Quinton snorted and sipped his drink.
Max blocked this out too and continued to eye the master of illusions skeptically.
Quinton sighed and put the glass down. "I've worked for some of the biggest directors in the business, you know, and there are plenty of young, naive girls who would do anything or anyone to be discovered." He looked quite pleased with himself.
Otto chuckled. "I'm surprised you even know what 'naive' means."
Quinton crossed his arms. "And how many people have you fucked, tentacle boy?"
"I do not see what makes that any business of yours."
"None, right?"
Otto smiled softly. "Baiting me will not work. Unlike some people, I do not need to brag about my sexual conquests to feel secure about my masculinity."
"Oh, burn!" Max laughed.
Quinton scowled and the subject was dropped. Four hands later, everyone was friends again and it was as though the fight had never happened.
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FATR: BTW, I'm most likely going to be Shathra for Halloween. She kicks so much ass! If you want to see what she looks like, do a google image search for "shathra." One of the things links to this adorable page that has all the characters drawn out in this really... well, adorable style. Yes, Quinton is a bit of an asshole, but we can deal with that. This was another group dynamic building chapter, so it was a little dull. There is much more action in the next few chapters, including the intro of a new character (yes, another one). Yay, made it through the lull! You give me reviews now! And for anyone who cares, my profile quote is updated and I've started posting "Cat in Training" under the title "Cat and a Half." Uh... "Heros are Made" has three chapters now... that's it, really. Okay, peace out from penguin land!