Hey-ho! Sorry this took a while. Between work, board exam reviews and other stuff I never really had the time to write. Hell, I had to write this one up while at work so it might not be the best quality, but hopefully it's good enough.
This is the second and final part of the Mayday omake for Nerdman3000. Not my best work admittedly but I owed the guy and I'm hoping he likes this. Next chapter will focus back on the plot with Cindy and Lana.
Side note - Matt's absolutely dominating the love interest poll, though Felicia's catching up. This is gonna be one fucked up pairing...
Also, I binge watched You Me Her on Netflix and yeah, polyamory is interesting but so supremely difficult to write due to all the relationship problems, possessiveness and incompatible plans for the future. Would've been interesting for Peter/Gwen/MJ to tackle it, but eh.
MaximumOverdrive: So legit question time. Why does everyone admire Spider-Woman? She goes around doing the 'superhero' thing, yeah, but it's not like it's hard for her. If I could lift tanks and eat bullets it'd be no big deal for me to fight supervills either.
shouldvegottentheTURBO: Who cares if it's easier for her?
MaximumOverdrive: Because it doesn't mean anything! Like, if a guy with two arms stops and picks up some litter it's nothing special, but if a guy in a wheelchair does it it's much harder. Spider-Woman stopping crime is like me passing someone food on the table. Its nice, but it's not hard and I don't expect applause for it.
PeaceandCalmandScreams: Like the other guy said, who cares? My friend is rich and he pays for our dinner whenever we go out. We don't tell him 'you're rich so it doesn't mean anything'. He's still giving up his time and money for us and we appreciate it.
shouldvegottentheTURBO: Yeah dude. If I had super strength and shit I'd just use it to lift the couch whenever the remote got stuck not fight crime. Spider-Womans running around saving people and she did that even when everyone was giving her shit for 'killing' Peter Parker.
Rolfenmeister: Also she kinda did help stop an alien invasion and Red Skull's crazy fucking crotch goblin from nuking us.
MaximumOverdrive: Ugh, I give up. You fanboys are fucking blind.
PeaceandCalmandScreams: Sounds like someone's just salty and trying to be a contrarian.
Rolfenmeister: Lol, found Jameson's alt account. Ain't fooling anyone brushhead!
Mayday leaned back against the bed and tried to keep her breathing level. Mary Jane had rushed her over to the Wasp's place after her 'episode' and the size changing scientist had spent the past couple of hours checking over her condition. She could only thank her lucky stars that she hadn't had another one of those...whatever the hell that was. She wasn't sure she could take another burst.
So far Mayday hadn't done anything but play test subject in the clear room. Spider-Man and Spider-Gwen arrived just a few minutes ago while Spinerette and Striker were still out combing the city for clues. Her episode made it very clear that they didn't have as much time as they thought.
"This is...troubling." Wasp said, eyes still glued to the translucent screen. She looked just like the Wasp she read about as a kid on those old Avengers comics, though apparently in this world Hank Pym was her old mentor instead of her husband. Weird, "Your molecular structure seems to be...fluctuating, if that's the right word. It's as if your existence is a Schrodinger's box."
"English, please?" Mayday asked softly.
"It means you both should and shouldn't be here." Wasp replaced the holographic screen with another while Mary Jane looked on worriedly, "This dimension knows that you don't belong here, and you do as well. Think of it like a dimensional immune system. When foreign substances enter the body the white blood cells rush to incapacitate it before it can spread across the body-
"Meaning I'm the virus in this analogy." She didn't know whether to laugh or feel insulted, "But that doesn't make any sense. I've traveled to other dimensions before and I never had to deal with this." She had to deal with her dad being evil or finding out that in one world Norman Osborn was her godfather, but that was at least manageable.
"Those previous instances were under controlled circumstances, correct?" Mayday nodded, "From what you've told me about how you came here I can only assume that the gate that took you three was unstable. My knowledge on dimensional transportation is rather basic at the moment, but I can infer well enough that without proper tethering you aren't fully transported outside of your dimension."
"That doesn't make much sense either," Spider-Man said, "When my...brother got here with Octavius it wasn't that different from how Spider-Girl got here with her Ock. He and Octavius ended up just fine...for the most part."
"Not every dimensional portal is built the same, especially given the theoretical, and not to mention technological, differences. There's more than one way to pluck a bird, as that saying goes." Uh...Mayday was pretty sure that wasn't how it went, but cool, "However you want to argue this Ms. Parker's state is unstable and if we don't do something soon it will only worsen."
Well...crap. Mayday shut her eyes and took a deep breath to try and calm herself. So much for being a normal day of heroing. A part of her was already kicking herself for all this. Maybe if she'd been more careful in the fight, maybe if she hadn't been so damn cocky and just waited for Darkdevil like he wanted, this wouldn't have happened. Now she was being killed by something she couldn't even fight.
Spider-sense.
The convulsing returned stronger than before. Mayday fell off the bed and landed on the floor on her right side. Spider-Gwen, Spider-Man and Mary Jane rushed in immediately with the latter holding onto her tightly as the quick, painful episode passed, "...That smarts," Mayday muttered. Before thinking better of it she leaned more into Mary Jane's arms and closed her eyes.
"Shit!" Spider-Gwen said loudly. Mayday looked up at her and found the other Spider pacing worriedly, "Okay, okay, okay. We gotta...we gotta get Mayday back. We'll call up Cindy and she can get her old S.H.I.E.L.D friends. They have a portal-"
"I'm afraid it's not that simple, Gwen," Wasp said. Mary Jane helped Mayday up to the bed as the scientist stepped closer, "Finding a portal is only part of the problem. We have no idea which dimension Ms. Parker came from. Blindly going through universes hoping we get lucky like Samantha did years ago won't help and will likely deteriorate her condition."
"So what do you suggest we do?" Gwen asked back heatedly.
"We follow the old plan," Mayday said. Her voice sounded a bit weaker than she would've liked, "Ock knows the coordinates to go back. She was planning to steal tech from different universes to get a leg up back in mine. If we can find her she can tell us what we need." Hopefully without having to be 'persuaded'. She was never really good at the growly voice thing.
"Meaning we gotta find em before they leave, cause something tell's me they aren't going to stick around for you..." Spider-Man said.
"Yeah, never was one for carpooling." Mayday grinned, though it was obviously forced, "Have they had any luck?"
"Nothing so far." Spider-Gwen frowned, "Norah's trying to look up any tech stolen or power fluctuations like you said, but so far she's still chasing smoke. Cindy and Lana haven't had much luck either."
"Great..."
"Here." Wasp handed Mayday a watch which the teenager put on without a word. The screen showed numbers counting down, "I've done my best to try and gauge the time between your spasms. I can't remove them, but this should allow you to brace yourself and prepare. Better than being caught unawares while webswinging or in the middle of a fight."
"Thanks." Mayday smiled and nodded gratefully. Even with how messed up things were she genuinely felt thankful for how much help she was getting from the others.
"I wish we could do more..." Spider-Gwen mumbled. Mayday wondered idly if the one her dad knew was just like her, "Me and Pete'll go out and continue searching. You stay here with MJ and-"
"Not gonna happen." She pulled herself into a shaky stand, "You heard what Wasp said, the timer's counting down." She raised her wrist. The ticking numbers were just a little under two hours, "Taking it easy isn't an option here."
"She's got a point, Gwencent. Staying here won't help her." Mary Jane said.
"Agreed." Spider-Man said last.
"Alright, alright, I know when I'm outnumbered." Gwen rolled her eyes and threw her hands up, exasperated, "We should go with you in pairs, though. I don't want you going around alone considering you're glitching out."
"Better than calling me a virus," she snarked, "So, who's gonna be my partner?"
The three of them looked at each other in turn. Mary Jane looked like she was about to speak up but Gwen beat her to it, "I'll take first watch. MJ already helped you out earlier and we can move faster. Pete can't webswing." He couldn't? That was weird She kinda just assumed all of them could do it, "Besides, Peter's contacts are a bit on the, um..."
"Let's just say they aren't much fans of Superheroes." Mayday's eyes narrowed. What the heck did that mean? "Don't gimme that look. They aren't criminals, they just don't like most people in costumes. Living below the poverty line tends to make you resent the people up on billboards."
"And they don't resent you?" Mayday asked
"You see any billboards with me on it?" Just the one, but she got the feeling neither he or Spider-Gwen appreciated it, "Look, all I'm saying is it'll be easier without the Superheroes hanging around."
"Alright, point made." He reminded her way too much of Darkdevil right now.
They all said their goodbyes to Wasp and she and Spider-Gwen went out to the usual villain hotspots, as Gwen called them. No Ocks or Canis', but they did run into a bunch of other costumed travelers of the night. A group being led by someone called White Rabbit particularly ticked Gwen off along with another guy dressed like the Hamburglar robbing a bodega.
Both of them also claimed to be her arch-enemy, which Spider-Gwen vehemently denied. Mayday could sympathize.
It lasted for a couple of days. Every few hours they switched up 'babysitters' and traversed their usual haunts. Except for Spider-Man. He justified it by saying he wasn't as fast as the others but Mayday definitely didn't miss how cagey he could be sometimes. It probably had something to do with where he ended up being compared to the others.
She definitely didn't miss the blood on his knuckles.
"Here." Mayday took the offered corndog and Spider-Gwen sat next to her on the edge of the building. So far their current patrol had turned up zilch and she'd already had another. It was why they decided to stop and go for a break, "Are you sure you're alright?"
"Yeah, I've had worse. Remind me to tell you about the time I lost my powers cause some jerk electrocuted me." That wasn't a fun time, even if riding the gliders was kinda cool, "So..." She clicked her heels against the building wall and looked straight ahead. This place was so...bright. Even in the dark of night it was nigh impossible to find a single shadowy corner, "This is what you do everyday?"
"Hm?" Spider-Gwen gave her a sideways glance. Her mask was only pulled up to her nose, masking her eyes from view.
"All this." Mayday gestured to the view in front of them, "This place is..." Weird, crazy, vibrant? In her world there were the Avengers, but this place had the Initiative on top of that. Heck, she just saw a guy with a frog suit fighting the White Rabbit woman from earlier. Apparently he was one of Spider-Gwen's fans.
"A madhouse? That's what Peter calls it, at least." The blonde Spider pulled her mask off and took a deep breath, "Truth be told things weren't so hot. Just a year ago it felt like I was the only one who gave a shit about what happened to this city." Her lips quirked up in a slightly bitter smile, "And of course everyone kept calling me a murderer cause of that shithead Jameson."
"I know him back in my universe. He's...not terrible." He gave her a fair shake, at least.
"Yeah, well, he told everyone I murdered my best friend, so agree to disagree." She finished off the last of her corndog and threw the stick down to the ground. Mayday refrained from making a littering joke, "He's still at it even now. No matter what I do he'll try to find a way to twist it and make me look like this...violent, selfish bitch who doesn't care about anyone."
"Sounds like a mess." Mayday tucked her knees to her chest and continued to look out to the sprawling lights, "Speaking of, what's the story between you and d- Peter? I mean, I saw that billboard..." Mary Jane told her the cliffs notes version, but she still wanted to hear it from Gwen herself.
"That's a whole 'nother can of worms." Gwen sighed, "Peter, he...he wanted to be special. Him and hundreds of other people. Even before the Initiative the thought of having superpowers was just so tempting for some people."
"Yeah. Back home me and my friends were talking once and suddenly everyone was on about what powers they wanted and what they'd do with it. Was pretty awkward when I told them I wanted to be like Wild Thing. That's, uh, Wolverine's daughter. You have a Wolverine here? Short, hairy guy with claws and wears a lotta yellow?"
"Uh, no, but we have a Shadowcat. Close enough, I guess." Gwen shrugged, "Anyway, Peter stole a serum from Doctor Connors and tweaked it. He...Doctor Connors wanted to use the serum to help people who lost limbs. War vets and construction workers who wanted to hug their kids again, you know? And he wanted to use Lizard DNA to get it."
"I've heard this story before..."
"Yeah, well, in my version Pete figured that if it could help people get their body back it could do more. And it did: turned him into a giant Lizard."
"Mary Jane gave me the rundown on what happened," Mayday said softly, "I'm still confused on how he came back. She said whatever gave him his powers brought him back with his memories messed up?"
"You could say that..." Gwen said, "Alright, we gotta go back to the beginning. See there was this Spider-Man - another Peter Parker - from the 1930's Great Depression time who got taken here six years ago. He was taken by this group called S.I.L.K and they...well, let's just say it wasn't pleasant."
"I can imagine."
"Three years ago Peter...died." Gwen took a slow, deep breath, "I...don't want to go back to it, so let's say that at the end of it I was holding his dead body and Jameson figured Spider-Woman was easier to get people to hate than the Lizard who disappeared without a trace. So there was a couple of years of me being hunted down by the police while trying to do the hero thing. Oh, and my dad was leading the task force at the time. Not fun."
"Ouch..." Mayday winced, "If it makes you feel any better you weren't the only one who had it rough. A few months ago I trusted this crime lord Black Tarantula and even Canis and they just used me to try and take out their competition." She still slapped herself sometimes for falling for it. At least Canis ended up in jail...as soon as they found him again.
"Us Spiders have a bad habit, huh?" Gwen smiled wryly, "Anyway, what happened afterwards is kinda complicated. Peter died, the other Spider-Man died, Peter came back and thought he was the other Spider-Man then the other Spider-Man came back...it was just this giant clusterfuck." She cursed a lot, even more than April, which was a feat all on its own.
"Hope you don't mind me saying, but he doesn't seem like someone who'd inject himself with the Lizard serum." And he definitely didn't act like any kind of Spider-Man she saw before.
"He's not really 'my' Peter, but he's not the other Spider-Man either. I...we're not really sure who he is at this point, but we've accepted that. At least he's alive..." That last one was said in a soft whisper and Mayday wondered if Gwen meant for her to hear it, "But really, enough about me. I wanna talk about you. What's it like being a second generation superhero?"
"Honestly? Not as great as you'd think. Dad wasn't a fan at first. I mean I get why, but I was pretty ticked off too considering he started at my age. He still gets overprotective sometimes. Other than that school's been kind of a mess. Had to drop out of the basketball team cause powers was just cheating and I couldn't date cause of the whole double life thing." Not to mention Normie and Franklin decided she was just too young to date. Nevermind the fact that apparently she wasn't too young to put her neck on the line.
"Yeah, it was like that for me too. Things got better after my dad and the rest of my friends found out, but it was pretty touch and go for a while there." Gwen was quiet for a moment with her next words coming out in a whisper, "What are...what's Peter and MJ like? Back in your dimension?"
"It's kinda hard to describe them. I mean, dad's dad and mom's mom." Mayday shrugged helplessly, "Sometimes dad puts on the costume again and it's...weird how all of my friends flock up to him asking for autographs and stories. Dads the guy who trains me and gets on my case about boys. It's kinda hard to reconile that with the guy who helped save the city and the world multiple times, you know?"
"My dad was pretty much a cop 24/7. When I was younger I sometimes resented him for it, but I realized later he was doing his best to raise me with mom gone."
"My mom - Mary Jane - felt more like a friend than a mom sometimes. She was pretty supportive of me putting on the mask, even made up the Spider-Shoppe - that's a costume that sells Spider-Girl merch - for me and Benjy's college fund." She paused, "Never thought I'd see a universe where she ended up becoming a hero."
"A hero..." Gwen looked down, masking her face from view again.
"...What's wrong?"
"It's nothing, it's just...MJ's done some things and I can't be sure if..."
"If it's the Carnage symbiote?" Gwen gave her a wide-eyed look, "What happened?"
"She...She's been killing people." Mayday's hands balled into shaky fists. It was to be expected considering the monster she was attached to, but that didn't stop the feeling of disgust that rolled over her, "So far she's only gone after people who got off without going to jail. She said she's only going after people who escape what they deserve and that she always gives people a chance, but..."
"God..." The thought of any version of her mom taking a life was just... "So...what are you doing?"
"Trying to teach her that there are other ways. It's been...slow going." Gwen smiled bitterly, "She's not the only one. Peter kills, Cindy kills, even Lana kills. Feels like everyone's telling me I should just accept it and it's part of growing up, but a part of me still can't let go."
"Yeah..." Darkdevil and Kaine were on her case about that too. Maybe they were right, but that didn't mean she was just gonna take it lying down. Desperate to change the subject, Mayday said the first thing she could think of, "...Mary Jane's not the only one with a partner. You have a symbiote too, right?" The way her suit moved around was just a bit too familiar.
To her credit Gwen didn't even seem slightly surprised by the question. The blonde smiled and a small, smooth, snake-like thing jutted out of her shoulder, the dark surface dotted with a pair of white eyes and a little tongue. It looked far less monstrous than Mary Jane's, "Hello." She sounded just like Gwen, though there was a noticeable reverb to her voice.
"Hey." She offered a hand and the 'snake' wrapped herself around it briefly before retreating back to her Other's side, "I've had some experiences with being attached to a symbiote too."
"I don't sense one on you," Venom(?) said.
"No, she...she gave her life up to protect me, dad and Normie from the Hobgoblin." It didn't erase all the terrible things she'd done with Eddie Brock, but Mayday could empathize with her in those last moments, "And like I told Mary Jane, the Carnage symbiote was an enemy of mine too."
"Guess some things never change." Gwen breathed out softly and smiled while the snake nuzzled up against her cheek, "For what it's worth I'm really sorry you got caught up in all this."
"It's not your fault. I should've been more careful. God, Darkdevil and dad are gonna blow up on me when I get back." Mayday pulled off her own mask and brought a hand through her sweat soaked hair. Gwen just stared at her, "What? Something on my face?" She grinned.
"No, it's just...you really do look a lot like MJ." Gwen bit her lower lip, "I know this is super weird and all, but could you tell me what 'your' Gwen was like? Cause I only met one other Gwen and I wasn't really a fan."
"I...can't really say, sorry. She was gone way before my time. It took a lot of prodding for him to fess up on why he was so overprotective of me." Mayday took a deep breath, "It wasn't just because he worried I'd be in danger. It's cause he knew that no matter how hard you tried you'll always lose someone. You can't save everyone, and that hurts more than any pumpkin bomb or laser blast."
"Yeah..." Gwen shook her head, "Okay, I don't wanna talk about super depressing shit anymore so let's just...oh, I know: tell me about your Rogues Gallery. Every hero has one of those, right? Or do you call them something else?"
"No we use the same, though some people try to use Villain Manifestos. Think it sounds more refined." Mayday waved a hand through the air, "As for my villains...you already met Ock and Canis, but there were a few others. This crimelord Black Tarantula who thought he was my, ugh, destined mate. There was Hobgoblin, this murderer for hire called Mr. Nobody..."
She listed off all the people she fought. By the end of it she was almost as surprised as Gwen at how many fingers she was using to count off, "Woah, and I thought I had it bad." Gwen blew a tuft of hair out of her eyes and leaned back, legs swinging lazily, "I recognize some of the names, though. Tombstone, Hobgoblin...did you ever figure out who that one was? I'm still trying to look him up."
"No, sorry. I'm still dealing with him myself. He caused this citywide gang war and we just managed to make it stop when I got the call about Ock and Canis." Along with her barely managing to keep April from murdering the guy. Didn't matter what he did; they had to be better.
"Ah well, I'll get him eventually." Gwen suddenly pulled out phone out from...somewhere and read the message quickly, "Huh, looks like Norah and Gabriel found something."
"What is it?"
"Apparently your Doc Ock didn't waste any time. She's already asking around about where to get the best tech, probably to try and build another portal. According to Norah's source an old woman with 'fucking tentacle hentai shit on her back' raised a black market and interrogated everyone." Mayday almost laughed at the casual crudeness of the blonde Spider. She really wondered if she was similar to her Gwen Stacy.
"I guess she's as desperate as I am to get back." Mayday looked at the time and frowned. Just a little over an hour before her next spasm, "We gotta hurry."
BlueSkiesClearMind: Spider-Woman is a complete and total asshole and anyone who thinks she's someone to be admired needs to get their head out of their ass.
980789: Oh jeez another one of these? Lemme guess, she didn't give you the autograph you wanted? Didn't show up for your birthday party?
BlueSkiesClearMind: I'm not a fucking kid asswipe. I'm just not blind and know that whole 'oh look at me I'm so fucking perfect and super' image is complete bullshit.
980789: Wow...who hurt you as a little boy?
STALKER: Yeah...what BlueSkiesClearMind really means is that he tried to ask Spider-Woman out to a date and be his girlfriend, she said no, and he's been obsessed ever since.
980789: So another salty fanboy? How surprising /s
BlueSkiesClearMind: So what if I asked her out? I'm still right. What kind of 'superhero' thinks some psycho killer like Spider-Man is better than a perfectly nice guy? An up her own ass bitch, that's who!
980789: And you're the 'nice guy' in this scenario? Yea right. I'm not exactly a fan of Spider-Man either but who she dates is really none of our fucking business.
BlueSkiesClearMind: Yes it is! Frankly I'm getting tired of how much she's hiding from us. She owes it to us to stop hiding behind masks and let us see who she really is. We deserve more from here than half-assed 'heroism'.
STALKER: Dude, you came up to her when she was talking with a kid during a charity event, shoved the kid off and asked her out on a date. What the fuck did you think was gonna happeN? She falls in love with your kid pushing self?
StrikerNotBombshell: Hey asshole, fuck off. She doesn't owe you shit. You got rejected? Boo fucking hoo, world's smallest violin. I got rejected too and you don't see me going on tweeter and making an ass of myself.
BlueSkiesClearMind: Wasn't asking you Bombshell. Go blow up a school or something.
STALKER: Dude stop you're just embarrassing yourself now...
StrikerNotBombshell: No, actually, just let him rant. Really curious how deep he's gonna dig that hole of his.
They met up with the rest of the group back in what she found out later was Cindy's place. Mayday looked down at the ticking clock and frowned at the numbers counting down. She really didn't like the idea of going into a fight and getting caught in the middle of an episode, "Took you long enough." Lana looked up from the laptop and slammed it shut, "We doing this or what?"
"I'm still kinda confused on what exactly we're doing," Mary Jane said. Like the others she was in full costume, her abnormally long hair spilling out of the back of her mask. No way that was natural.
"Well according to Norah's sources Ms. Octopus tried to find a cache of tech to try and build something and that she was led to this guy." She showed them the screen of her phone with long, dark hair and glasses, "Doctor Stephanie Gerard, a former member of AIM. Now I don't know what our new resident supervill offered her, but apparently it was enough to get them on her side."
"Ock said she wanted to get tech so she could get an advantage back home. That's probably it," Mayday said.
"So they can't take over here so they're gonna try somewhere else. Why shit on your own bed when you do it on somebody else's right?" Lana snorted, "Whatever they're doing this old bitch is with them and if we wanna get Spider-Girl here back to her own place we're gonna have to take these assholes out."
Mayday looked at each of them in turn - Cindy and Spider-Man reloading pistols, Lana with energy running up her hands and Mary Jane's fingers briefly shifting to claws - and felt her stomach churn, "Hey, let's slow down for a bit here," She said, "Listen, I...I appreciate you all going out of your way to help me, but I don't want anyone to die for my sake. So...if we're doing this then we're doing this right. No killing."
Lana rolled her eyes (rude) while Cindy put both guns back into their holsters and turned to her, "Listen, we'll do our best here, especially since the cops'll want people to interrogate, but these guys are terrorists. If it comes down them or us then it's them. I hope you understand."
Mayday bit her lower lip briefly before nodding, "Alright, just...do your best." This wasn't the first time she'd dealt with this. She abhorred killing but not everyone shared that view. And it wasn't like she didn't get it - police officers, soldiers and many others had to kill. She understood, even if she didn't like it, "So...how are we gonna find out where these guys are camping?"
"That'll be thanks to me, dollface." Mayday (almost) jumped when a nearby chair suddenly swiveled around to reveal-
...
Was that a duck in a suit smoking a cigar?
"What's wrong? Ain't never seen someone with such downy good looks?" The talking duck took a puff of his cigar and stepped off the chair. The fact that he was maybe 3 feet tall ruined any dramatic sense he was attempting, "Here's what you're lookin' for, Moonie." He put a thick folder on the center table, "Ya got my fee?"
"Yeah, yeah. Can't believe I'm getting price gouged by a duck. And Pete was the one who hired you." Cindy rolled her eyes and handed said duck a folded stack of bills. Mayday easily counted well over a grand and immediately felt guilty, "So, mind giving us the cliffs notes version? We're kinda on a time limit here."
"It's your dosh." The duck shrugged, "Me and Spider-Guy looked over the places where these Exchange mooks get their stuff. Apparently they use some of the bums and janitors to steal some tech and get some cheap labor. Most of em didn't know jack from adam, but one guy figured that he needed insurance so he got some notes on drop offs and listed em down. Figured that if these bozos tried to kill him he could use it as leverage."
"Took some persuading but I managed to get the list off him," Spider-Man said. Gwen gave him a look and he rolled his eyes, "He's fine. Just had to get a couple of dealers off his back. Everyone's still breathing."
"So where are these places?" Mary Jane asked.
"Me and Spider-Guy got three of em." Howard opened the folder and flipped to a map with three circled spots. Accordin' to our snitch the first two places are buildings he sees people goin in and out. Last one's a bit trickier. Snitch says it's a dead drop and every time he tries to follow the guy he loses him, so that one you'll need to do some legwork on."
"Dibs on the first building with Cin," Lana said. Peter gave her a sideways glance and she rolled her eyes, "What? You really think I'm good at the whole stalking thing? Never my thing. Spider-Gwen and Jane can deal with the second place while you and Spider-May do grab ass. Doubt any of us'll be useful keeping a low profile."
"I resent that implication," Cindy said lightly.
"You know I don't need help. I can do this on my own," Spider-Man said. Mayday tried not to feel offended.
"I've got some experience tailing people, you know." Spider-Man didn't say anything, "I won't be a bother. Trust me."
"That's not..." He sighed, "Fine, let's just do this."
The dead drop was picked up in the afternoon. Mayday looked down at the watch and grimaced. 30 minutes and counting before her next episode; they were cutting it really close here, "You there?" Spider-Man asked through the earpiece. She looked down over the roof of the building and found him sitting on a nearby bench as the delivery guy - a bearded man in his 40's wearing a heavy coat - passed by.
"Yeah." She pulled the hood of the jacket over her head and jumped to the adjacent rooftop. Spider-Man said it'd be best if they had two points of view. He'd stay at ground level while she stuck to the rooftops.
The fact that it meant she was far away from him didn't miss her attention.
Spider-Man stood up from the bench and and began to discreetly follow their target. Mayday had to admit, it was kinda eerie how easily he blended into the crowds; more than once she'd lost track of him as soon as they rounded a corner or a crowd passed by. The delivery guy was paranoid too, turning to look back every couple of minutes, but he didn't find him either.
"Hey, Spider-Man?"
"What? Something wrong?" She still couldn't see him.
"No, it's just..." She jumped to another building and clung to a nearby wall to hide from view, "Alright, I'll just say it straight out: what's your problem with me?"
"I don't have a-"
"Cut the crap." She flipped to another building and dropped down to the nearby fire escape, "You've been avoiding me ever since I showed up here. Did I do something to tick you off?"
"Is now really the best time for this?"
"Best chance I have right now, I think."
"Stubborn. You're like someone else I know." He sighed, "Listen, it's...it's not that I hate you or anything. Quite frankly I don't know much about you so I can't really say much about you."
"Then what is it?"
"You're a Superhero." She tilted her head and swung up to another rooftop, waiting for him to continue, "I dunno if you've noticed but I'm not as squeaky clean as Gwen and the rest of her Avengers pals. I don't look so good in the daylight, Mayday."
"You seem like a good enough guy. Gwen trusts you."
"Wasn't always like that. We've had our fights..." His voice had turned bitter at the end, "All I'm saying is you probably won't like what you see. Even Gwen doesn't a lot of the time. I'm trying to change, but it's slow going. So just...I don't want to get into any more arguments. I'm done fighting and I'd rather you didn't leave here seeing a version of your dad acting like me."
"Wow, um...dunno what to say to that." Guy was slowing down. They were close, "Look, this isn't the first time I've had to deal with disagreements. Remind me to tell you about Darkdevil sometime. Let's just promise to be cool till we finish this. Deal?"
"Deal."
The timer clicked down to 17 minutes by the time the guy went into an alley, knocked on the door and whispered something she couldn't make out. Mayday crouched the edge of the building and narrowed her eyes as he disappeared down a staircase. Now she just had to-
"Ready?"
"Jeez!" Mayday spun around and glared at Spider-Man, a hand on her chest. He was already wearing his mask, "What the- when did you-"
"Sorry for surprising you." He didn't sound sorry, "We're probably gonna have to go in swinging. Ready for a fight?"
"Sure." She let out a quick breath as she shucked off the jacket to expose her costume underneath. She put on her own mask and swung down to the alley, cause damn it if she was gonna get surprised again. She waited till Spider-Man was next to her when she asked, "So...how we gonna get in there? Find a secret passage? Sneak in through the roof?"
"Thought we'd just knock." And then he went up to the door and banged on it. Mayday stood stick still as the slit opened and a pair of eyes peeked through, "Joe sent me."
The slit slammed shut.
"Always worked in the movies." Before she could marvel at the fact that he actually made a joke he jumped, grabbed the door frame and kicked the door hard enough to make it fall down into the two gunmen behind it. Mayday sprung into action immediately and shot a line of webbing to the next gunman running up the stairs. She tugged him towards her quickly and hit his head with a flip kick, knocking him to the ground unconscious.
"A little warning would've been nice!" Mayday screamed as they rushed down the steps.
"Here's one: jump."
Her spider-sense blared and she jumped up to the stairway's ceiling just before two more gunmen shot up where the two of them were just standing. Mayday looked around frantically and found no trace of Spider-Man anywhere, "You better be alive, Spider-Man!" She dodged the next barrage of gunfire till it suddenly stopped. Looking up (down?) she found the guns yanked away from the goons before they were slammed painfully against the ground.
Spider-Man reappeared in a wisp of smoke, "Come on."
"...That's new."
"Spider-Woman can eat bullets, I can turn invisible. We all have our quirks." Now she felt bad her webshooters were busted. Would've been nice to have some of her gadgets right now.
She and Spider-Man fought their way through the cramped, winding halls. Mayday wasn't much a fan of closed spaces. Agility and speed weren't much useful when the hallways were cramp enough that it was night impossible to jump out of the way of bullets.
Spider-Man was the opposite. He seemed to have no trouble fighting and the way he fought...the Darkdevil comparison became way more appropriate the more she saw. Broken bones, heads smashed against walls hard enough to dislodge teeth...Mayday cringed with every hit and tried not to feel too guilty. At least they were alive and the injuries weren't fatal.
Mayday knocked out the last gunman and webbed him to the wall, "That's all of them." She turned and watched as Spider-Man slammed his fist against his own opponent and left the guy groaning on the floor. He fought differently than her dad. Just as agile and even quicker, but his hits were strong and had little flair or finesse in favor of painful blows that left people wheezing on the floor.
She was used to violence. Much as she didn't like to think about it, she knew that she hurt people. Still, there was something different with how sh and her friends did it. Always with a joke, with a quip, with offers to go easy if they just gave up. Spider-Man and Darkdevil were different. More raw, anger in their blows without any hint of hesitation for the damage that could be left.
Spider-Man walked to the end of the hall and opened the door slowly. The room that greeted them on the other side was wider and filled with numerous tables. Mayday walked to the closest one and whistled, "Look at this thing." She picked up the sleek firearm and twisted it to and fro. Guns weren't her thing, but she could be impressed by the make of something.
"Arms and tech dealers. Usually those are small enough to ignore, but when they get smart they can do a whole lot more damage." He sounded like he spoke from experience, "...What was I...your dad like?"
"Strict. Like, super. When he found out I put on the mask he was livid. Goes on about how I'm too young, how it's totally different when he did it at my age and all that parental crap. If it wasn't for Uncle Urich I probably never would've gotten anywhere." And even that was just cause he misunderstood and thought dad wanted a teacher for her. That and Uncle Urich missed the hero life.
"Urich..."
"You know him?"
"Not exactly." Mayday didn't say anything and just watched him go to another table and pick up a wrapped, brown package. Same one their delivery guy - who ran off while they were fighting the gunmen - got. They didn't bother chasing after him. Spider-Man opened the package and dumped the contents on the table, "Can't tell what this is, but looks like high tech. You recognize it?"
"No, sorry. Dad only taught me to fix up my webshooters." If they could reverse engineer the one Gwen loaned her then she could kiss her web fluid problems goodbye, "Maybe it's to make her own portal?"
"Probably, but it's only been a couple of days. It'd take way more than that to make portals if she was doing it piecemeal like this..." He frowned, "That is unless she told her new friends how to make one. How many heroes you got in your place?"
"Oh trust me, I'm not worried about home. The Avengers'll deal with any dimensional conquerors."
"You got Avengers back in your place too? Here's hoping they got a better foundation than the ones here."
"What do you mean by that?"
He didn't answer. Spider-Man's head snapped to the entrance and he growled softly, "Your 'friends' are coming." She nodded and jumped to the roof while he turned invisible. They needed to take them down quickly. If they escaped again then Mayday couldn't be sure when they'd find them again and she didn't want to test how much longer she could go with her episodes. They were already getting worse.
Ock and Canis strode in like they owned the place. Ock still wore her signature green jumpsuit while Canis had finally gotten a gray, pinstriped suit to replace his ratty clothes. Their stances were guarded and Canis sniffed the air warily, "Why are we here, Carolyn? You saw those men, they've been-"
"Taken down, likely by Spider-Girl. But of course we need that component." Mayday's eyes narrowed, "She's rather persistent like that. In fact, I believe she's watching us right..."
Spider-sense.
"Now."
Mayday jumped away from the wall just in time to avoid the upper right tentacle suddenly lashing out to her position. She almost forgot how deceptively long those things could be, "Nice to see you too, Ock!" She dodged the next hit and webbed Canis in the face mid-charge, "Sorry to drop in like this. Needed to have a bit of a chat, you know how it is."
"Scrambling in fear of your inevitable demise, hm?" Ugh. Seriously, who talked like that?
Canis stood up and ripped the web from his face, teeth bared in an ugly snarl. Mayday prepared to jump over him again when Spider-Man suddenly appeared and punched him in the neck, "Rrgh, you damn-" Canis' no doubt epic comeback was cut off when Spider-Man elbowed him across the face hard enough to break his nose before disappearing again.
"You have help? Of course. You insects all stick together." Ock sneered. Mayday refrained from making the obvious 'arachnids not insects' joke, "Fine then. I don't mind crushing two bugs."
"Could we cut the chatter a bit? Kinda in a rush here." Mayday swung towards the old woman and aimed a kick at her face. Ock blocked her hit with two legs while a third snaked behind her back and grabbed her left arm. Mayday pried it off in a rush and was caught flat-footed when another tentacle slammed her against the wall by her stomach.
"Slipping, hm?"
"Nope, just taking a breather." With a soft groan, Mayday pried the claws apart and zipped up to the roof. The red-clad Spider crawled along the rough surface quickly as Ock tried to strike her. Just barely she saw Spider-Man still fighting with Canis down below. The black-clad spider ran up the wall, flipped and kicked the wolfman straight across the jaw before slamming him against the ground.
"Hold still!"
Mayday dodged the next strike and webbed the tentacle's tip against the roof. Ock immediately tried to stab her with another and Mayday waited till it pierced the concrete before doing the same thing again. Just a little more and-
This time she barely got any warning before the next episode hit. Mayday screamed and fell to the ground as she spasmed through the air, limbs flailing helplessly. She'd barely landed on the cold concrete face first before Ock grabbed her right leg in a painful grip and slammed her against the wall, "What's wrong? Didn't come up with a countermeasure like we did?" Another slam, this time to the back of her head. Mayday tasted blood.
She raised her hands and feebly tried to web Ock in the face. The biocable missed by a few inches and she could only scream as she was slammed against the wall again, one tentacle pressed against her stomach while the two recently freed appendages crushed her wrists. Mayday struggled weakly and looked through bleary eyes as Ock drew closer with a demented smile.
"Hmph, didn't put up as much a fight as I thought." The last remaining tentacle shifted into a blade and drew closer to her, dancing inches away from her eye, "You know how much time you cost me? Well, no matter. Finishing you here is more than worth the time spent." She struggled against the vice grip and looked around desperately for help. Canis, with most of his upper body covered in dark silk, had Spider-Man and was choking him against the ground while the other Spider fumbled for something in his pocket.
And then he pulled out a knife and cut Canis' throat.
Peter threw the knife at her right shoulder. Ock cried out in pain and Mayday gave one last desperate kick and hit the tentacled supervillain square in the gut. Ock stumbled back and Mayday jumped, grabbed the woman's shoulders and hit her with a powerful headbutt. The impact coated her mask with blood but Mayday didn't care. She kicked her four more times then slammed her against the ground hard enough to knock the Supervillain unconscious.
Her new webshooters were busted, but she had enough to coat her in a thick blanket. Mayday panted and tried to ignore the taste of copper on her tongue, "Canis..." She turned her back on the unconscious villain and rushed to Canis' side. The wolfman was lying flat on his back with Spider-Man sitting nearby, trying to catch his breath. The blood was still gushing out.
"Hold on..." Mayday covered the wound with the last of her webbing and pressed hard against it, "Come on, stay with me..." Se wasn't going to let him die, damn it. That wasn't what heroes did.
"Spider-Girl-"
"Help me!" She screamed. Mayday saw the scowl even through his mask but eventually he knelt by her side and put a hand on Canis' throat. A dull yellow light covered the furry skin before the bleeding slowly stopped.
"There, should keep him alive for now." Spider-Man stood and Mayday sat back with a slow breath. The teenager looked down at her hands and tried to ignore the feeling of blood between her fingers.
"...Why did you do that? You had webs, you could have-"
"That psychopath was going to kill you." Spider-Man shot back, "Whatever that bastard had for skin the paralytic in my webbing wasn't working fast enough. It was you or him." He let out a soft sigh and turned back to her, "Judge me later. Least you're still alive for it."
Mayday didn't say anything. She couldn't find the words.
"Home sweet home..."
Mayday looked up at the two story house in a mixture of relief and trepidation. After capturing Ock and Canis they agreed to go back once their countermeasures - little devices Ock had made - were taken away. Past that it wasn't too difficult. They just had to borrow a portal from Cindy's friends, input the coordinates (apparently her dimension was Earth-982) and she was back where she belonged.
Plus a few tag-alongs.
She looked back to Spider-Man, Gwen and Mary Jane. Lana had volunteered to take Canis and Ock back to prison while Cindy said she'd 'check to see if there was a bunker here too', whatever that meant. That left the remaining three to escort her home, both because they were worried and because, honestly, they were curious on what alternate dimension thems were like.
"What's wrong?" Mary Jane asked next to her. They all decided to forgo costumes, which really only added to the weirdness again of seeing a younger version of her mom wearing a red tanktop and jeans.
"It's been a couple of days. Pretty sure they're gonna yell at me." Either right before or right after hugging her. Depended on their mood. Sighing, the teenage Spider mustered up her nerves and opened the door with her spare key.
The living room was packed. Dad, mom holding Benjy, April and even Darkdevil wearing a suit instead of a costume. Mayday had barely taken one step inside before April's head snapped up and the gamut of emotions from worry to relief to annoyance flashed through her face, "Gee, look who's here." The others looked and all froze, "Have a fun time going MIA, sis?"
"Her dad hobbled towards her and took her in a bonecrushing embrace, "Mayday, you're alright..." Great. Hug first, lecture later. She could deal with that. The hug lasted for a few more seconds before they reluctantly separated, "Where have you been? We've all been searching and-"
"I know, dad. I-" Her mom hugged her too, one hand wrapped gently while the other held onto Benjy. The baby smiled and reached for her, "A-Actually, it's kind of a long story so..." She gestured to her new friends near the door. Darkdevil raised a brow while her mom, dad and April looked so shocked she worried her mom would drop Benjy.
Explaining took almost an hour, though it was less confusing that she thought it'd be in hindsight. Apparently her mom and dad were used to the whole alternate dimensions thing cause of Doctor Strange.
Of course, she didn't miss the way their eyes lingered on Gwen. Alternate dimension counterparts were weird, but seeing a dead best friend/ex-girlfriend and finding out she was a superhero in another dimension was a whole 'nother thing entirely. The blonde awkwardly squirmed in her seat and scooted closer to Spider-Man every now and then.
"So the takeaway from this is that you should've listened to me and waited for help," Dark devil said.
"Yep, that's the lesson here." Mayday rolled her eyes. Of course he'd see it that way.
"So you go fight a couple of D-listers and end up going on a cross-dimension field trip. Why do you get to have all the fun?" April snarked.
"It wasn't exactly fun and games..." Spider-Man said.
"Yeah, yeah. I already get enough shit from Uncle Pete, don't need one from his leather jacket teenage version." April waved a hand through the air lazily, "Speaking of, you're really not dating Aunt MJ? What's up with that?"
"W-We're not here to discuss our lovelives." Gwen said, "We just came here to make sure Mayday got back home safe. We figured it was our responsibility." Mom and dad still kept looking at her, "Uh...what's up? Something on my face?"
"N-No, it's just..." Her mom took a deep breath, "We're sorry. I know you're not her, but you were about the same age when our Gwen..."
"Y-Yeah, Mayday told me." Gwen frowned, "Sorry for making this awkward. Trust me, I know what that feels like." She looked to Peter and held his hand, "We just wanted to make sure Mayday was okay. We'll get out of your hair."
"No, it's alright. In fact why don't you stay over for lunch? It's the least we could do for all you've done."
They all (reluctantly) agreed. Mayday tried to ignore the awkwardness that hung in the air and looked around the table. Her mom and dad had finally gotten used to Gwen's presence, but now Mary Jane was the one staring. It was like looking at night and day between the two. Same shade of red hair and the same face sans a few wrinkles, but her mom was the opposite of the rocker singer she'd gotten to know the past few days.
"So you're a singer in a band?" her mom asked Mary Jane. She was doing remarkably well not being weirded out seeing an almost-teenage version of herself.
"Uh...yeah. We don't go on many concerts now. Work keeps me busy, you know?"
"Truth be told we didn't go on a lot of concerts even before that," Gwen said, "I kept missing practice cause of the whole Spider-Woman thing and when Peter came back it as all a giant clusterfuck. And then MJ got...powers." From the Carnage symbiote. Mayday still felt sick thinking about it.
"Oh? You're a hero?" Her mom asked.
"Ah...kinda? I'm...I call myself Scarlet Spider." Her dad paused mid-bite briefly, "I'm not really used to the whole superhero thing. Hell, I'm not even part of the Initiative."
"That still sounds fucking weird to me. People actually sign up to be government toadies?" April asked.
"April..." Mayday sighed.
"You remind me of someone I know," Spider-Man said.
Lunch finished soon after and Mayday said her goodbyes. She could go back if she wanted - apparently their world was Earth-65 - but she couldn't help but feel sad. She'd miss Gwen and Mary Jane, and Spider-Man...well, his heart was in the right place. She smiled till they were out of sight then made her way up to her room and collapsed on the bed.
Peter pulled out his mask as soon as they were far enough, "That was weird..." They were meeting up with Cindy and Lana close where they first showed up. He put on the mask while Gwen and Mary shifted back to their costumes.
"Tell me about it," Gwen said.
"Least I know I'm hot enough to pull off a tracksuit," Mary joked.
They climbed up to the rooftop rendezvous and found Lana and Cindy already waiting for them, "Took ya long enough," Lana said.
"Sorry. Any luck with your bunker search, Cin?" Peter asked.
"Kinda. Found the place but it was empty, so I'm guessing Earth-982 Me decided to take her chances out in the big bad world here. Let's just hope she didn't become a Supervillain cause that's Mayday's problem." He was with her there.
"You got the way back?" Mary asked.
"Sure. Come on, let's bunch up. Tether's only got one shot."
The way back was just as disorienting as before. Peter took a deep breath and shut his eyes as the feeling of weightlessness washed over him. When he opened his eyes again he was more than a little put off when he saw that they were in Times Square with people staring at them instead of the expected Shield facility. Whatever, he was just glad to be back home-
"Uh, guys, I think we have a problem." Cindy raised the device, which was sparking in a not-so-soothing way, "I think we might've used it too quick. We're...not in the right place?"
"What? Then were the fuck are we?" Lana groaned.
As if on cue a red and blue figure swung down close to where they were. Peter immediately took a step back and leveled his gun at the new arrival, "Woah, hold on! I'm a friend!" His voice was cheery...and all too familiar.
It was his voice, after all.
"Saw you guys just drop in here and figured I should welcome you to the neighborhood." His costume looked close to the one Mayday wore. Peter suddenly had a bad feeling about the entire thing.
"Uh...who the heck are you?" Gwen asked.
"Me? People call me a lotta names, some of em not so nice, but you can call me your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. Nice to meet you."
Peter turned his gaze back to the machine's screen and saw the number 616, and not 65, across the surface. Sometimes he hated his life.
Parker/Stacy/Moon/Baumgartner/Watson luck strikes again. I was debating on whether they would end up on Earth-616 or Earth-8 (world where Miles and Gwen got married and made a utopia New York) by the end but decided on the former cause it seemed more recognizable.
Before anyone worries, I'm not planning to make this a thing. The ending was just a joke and we'll be back on plot by the next chapter. I'm sure some people would want a 616 omake so maybe I'll make one, but it's doubtful since I don't have a good grasp on the characters there.
Questions:
1. Some people expressed interest on Noir having both tech upgrades and the Spider Trigger. Would you guys really like that? Seems a bit too powerful considering Noir's enemy scale and him lacking some of Gwen's deficiencies to compensate as weaknesses.
2. Who'd you guys prefer to take the lead when fighting Bullseye: Peter or Matt? The former has drama about past friendships while the latter focuses on irony and how twisted their rivalry is due to their last fight. Leaning towards Matt so far but curious on thoughts.
3. More of a curiosity, but does no one mind the age gap between Matt and MJ? Mary Jane is 21 while Matt is 34, a 13 year age difference. Considering how people got testy over pairing Noir with Lana or Cindy I'm surprised this hasn't come up.
Review Answers:
SpiderGod76 - Cindy already does have a lot of screen time, right? As for MJ, her inhibitions are lowered by Carnage immensely. She wouldn't be a serial killer otherwise.
Spidergwen - She is desperate. Living with a killer blob of spaghetti in your head will make anyone unstable.
Makhan - To be fair we don't know what Matt is like as a boyfriend. He could be really nice.
Tomkatan - Taking over? Noir still has the most POV's, I think.
Raw Prodigy - Peter wouldn't be the one who'd get in trouble, though. Gwen knows he's not a cheater.
TCarson117 - He's seen Gwen wearing skintight lycra. Lingerie is nothing to him.
