So according to the votes we've got 2 votes for every possible host...and a whopping 12 for Laura. I knew I should've seen it coming, but still, wow. She only has slightly more plot importance than Frog-Man so I have no clue how she won outside of maybe 'she's smol'.

Anyway, sorry for the gap between updates. Anxiety's kicking in again now that Board Exams are coming up and I've taken to playing Skyrim again with mods. Had to churn this out.

Also, a couple of readers thought the blood dunk would lead to Spider Trigger. I feel I should remind people that ST isn't demonic in nature and he would've taken power from the Spider-God, not demons. Dunking him in the blood wouldn't give him demonic powers since it's incompatible.

Side Note - I'm going to start using the usernames of reviewers for the tweeter segments cause I'm way too lazy to keep coming up with my own. So if someone with your username acts like a jerk in the story, please don't think I'm attacking you or trying to cause offense. I'm just lazy.


Vendetta543: For readers wondering if Spider-Man and Spider-Woman's recent break-up will stop me from updating Three Tangled in a Web, rest assured it won't. Fanfics are about getting away from reality.

Titan616: Phew, thought we lost you there :) till eagerly awaiting who'll win the love triangle.

Mingyu: What's it about?

Noisy-Cricket: It's a love triangle romance between Spider-Man, Spider-Woman and Gwen Stacy. According to some journos she was an old friend of his before that night at prom.

Mingyu: Wait, I don't get it. How do you write Gwen Stacy? Does she have a blog or something?

Vendetta543: Nah. I did some searching and found a few headbook photos of her in a band so I just made her a tomboy punk rocker. She was just supposed to be a side character for the Spider-Man/Spider-Woman romance but readers ended up really liking her and she ended up as the third protagonist after the two leads. I even had to change the title to include her.

Psycho825: What do you expect? Spider-Woman fics have been done to death and a lot of people can't really sympathize with a billionaire heiress. The way you wrote Gwen Stacy, especially when she found out the guy she mourned for years was Spider-Man, was really well-done. I'm definitely shipping those two and hope she wins.

Nerdman3000: That and it's a childhood friend romance, which is always a classic.

Psycho825: I'll be honest I just really can't sympathize with Spider-Woman in your fic. She comes across as too bossy and can't really understand Spider-Man's POV since she's had everything handed to her. Gwen Stacy is much more sympathetic since she's dealing with reconciling the fact that her old childhood friend came back from the dead as a killer vigilante, which is much more of a hook.

Titan616: I'm still a Spider-Woman fan since she gives Spider-Man the most character development.

StrikerNotBombshell: Holy shit...I can't wait to tell Spider-Woman about this.


This wasn't how he wanted this to go.

Peter sighed and leaned back on the seat, trying his best to ignore how small he felt on the suddenly oversized cushions. The room Wasp had given them was wide and homey, but at ease was the last thing he felt. A part of him didn't even want to come here despite Gwen's circumstances. He'd make up an excuse and say something came up and that they wouldn't see him for the next couple of hours...or days...or weeks. Contacting Teresa was more difficult than they initially thought.

Now instead he was here being gawked out- well, all of them except for Cindy. She'd been surprised, sure, but she'd immediately shrugged it off. 'I'm from another dimension and I fought aliens, this really shouldn't be that big of a deal', she'd said. There was a reason she was his best friend. Always so quick to have his back even after he spent 4 months playing the noir vigilante.

Of course, he couldn't say the same for the others. Lana and Mary had been badgering him non-stop once they regained their senses. How did he become like this? Was it permanent? Where the hell did he get the clothes? That last one got him a few looks when he told them Moon Knight already had them on hand. Apparently he figured being turned into a 7 year old was an inevitability in their line of work.

Gwen was...quiet, which scared him more than he wanted to admit. Gwen was never quiet. She was bright and loud and wore her heart on her sleeve; sometimes to the point that she could be irritating, but still. Now she just looked at him, mouth slightly parted like she'd been drugged with something. At least her partner was gone - it decided to stay in the box with its new baby.

So he did the first thing he could think of to snap her out of it.

He pulled out a packet of cigarettes from his pocket and tried to light it. His thumb slipped on the clicker (damn stubby fingers) and that made Gwen snap up, "Are you seriously going to smoke right now?"

"Why not? I've still got my powers." Matt's broken jaw could attest to that. It'd be harder to fight, definitely, but he'd had worse...well, not really, but he could deal with it. Least he wasn't blind again.

Gwen stood and took the cigarette from his hands, "Okay, I'm putting my foot down here. No smoking when you're a fucking 7 year old. It just looks...wrong." Funny coming from the woman who just gave birth to a pile of pink goop. Hopefully she wouldn't say anything when he started using guns again.

"Whatever you say." He shrugged. At least she was talking again.

"I'm still just wondering what the fuck's up with this city. I mean we fought a damn demon last year and now we've got, what, some kind of ancient Vampire bitch running around? What next, we gonna deal with witches riding dragons trying to summon fairies to fight genies in some kind of secret war?"

"Don't tempt fate, Lana." Damn it, now he really did want a smoke, "The point is this condition's temporary. Annoying, but temporary. I mean it'll be harder to fight since I don't have as much reach but it should be easier to sneak around-"

"Woah, woah, woah! Hold up!" Gwen said suddenly, "Are you telling me you're going to keep being Spider-Man while you're like...this?" She gestured to him like he was some kind of alien.

"I don't see why not. I still have my abilities and the Hand are going to be re-doubling their efforts now that we ruined their ritual and took one of theirs." Matt and Rand took Sowande to a place to interrogate him. He doubted it'd do anything - Rand would just give him mean looks and Matt himself confirmed that the Fingers were impossible to break. Wouldn't stop him from trying, though.

"And the fact that you're currently 7 doesn't strike you as a reason to hold off?"

"Not particularly."

"I feel like we've had this conversation before..." Mary muttered.

"Yeah, I'm getting pretty sick of it myself," Cindy said, "Look, Gwen, you know he's gonna go out there again so please don't argue. He was annoying enough when you grounded him when he was legal, I really don't wanna think how bad he's gonna be now that he's a literal kid. I have my hands full with Laura as it is."

"You're all heart, Cin." Peter rolled his eyes and smiled slightly before turning back to Gwen, "Don't like it any more than you do, but finding Teresa's harder than we thought and I don't want to just sit around like this. Maybe we can find something that can fix me." It was a hell of a longshot, but he'd had worst odds. Matt could attest to that.

Gwen briefly chewed on her lower lip then nodded, "Fine, just be careful."

"As much as I always am." He hummed, "And I'm...sorry for not being here earlier."

"It's not your fault; I didn't know we were gonna give birth till tonight." Still felt odd to think about. He loved Gwen, but motherly would be the last thing he'd call her; even if she could be as overbearing as one sometimes, "Speaking of, I might have missed it but what are you doing to do with it? Have you given it a name? Figured out who's gonna host it?"

"Webster and I've been brainstorming but haven't come up with a name yet. I didn't wanna name it Chocolate no matter what she said." Of course it'd suggest that name, "As for the host..." She chewed on her lower lip and looked to Cindy, "So did you think about-"

"No."

"Come on!" He almost laughed at the sudden immature tone in her words, "Jan confirmed it's not radioactive so that's not an issue!"

"Not the the point, Gwen." The older Spider gave her a steely look, "I'll be straight with you: not everyone is cool with letting someone or something else into their skull. You and Webster are cool, and really all the power to you for that, but me? I like my headspace with just me for company Same reason why I had to stop myself from decking former Agent Hill when she tried to order me to be their new symbiote test project."

"But-"

"And honestly, if that thing's really innocent then you don't want it seeing what's in my head. Trust me."

"I agree with her, Gwencent. As literally the only other person on the planet with one of these things I'd tell anyone else it's not fun and games," Mary said.

"No offense, Jane, but I think you're a unique case. Not everyone gets a serial killer parasite on them," Lana said. The skin of her exposed shoulders thrummed red briefly. Looked like the monster was mad, "But yeah, I agree with Cin. Imagine a camera pointed at you no matter where you went. I mean fuck, I'd definitely have to go nun since there's no way I'm jacking off with someone watching." She paused, "Wait, doesn't that mean you and Pete do it when-"

"Webster goes off when I have personal time, same with showers- wait, why am I even talking about this with you?" Gwen huffed frustratedly.

"Could we please not discuss our sex lives, especially considering the state I'm in now?" Peter said.

"Speaking of, I hate to be the 'mom' again but please tell me you two aren't planning to-"

"Of course not!" Gwen shouted before he could reply, "Jesus, Cin, what kind of-"

"I'm just making sure, Gwen. No need to bite my head off for it." Cindy rolled her eyes then

"Back on topic, if you really need someone then why not Norah or Jessica or your dad? You trust them, right?"

"I already asked them: they all said no." Gwen's shoulders sagged, "Dad and Jess said they're not putting other kids - deliberate ones - off the table just yet and they don't wanna risk what a symbiote will do to pregnancies. And Norah...well, she made the same argument Cindy did. Apparently she really likes her alone time." Most people did. It sometimes worried him how quickly Gwen had taken to sharing all her thoughts with something else so intimately.

"Oh man, Nor's gonna freak when she finds out about you, Pete." Lana grinned at him.

"Yeah, I figured..." He sighed.

"Well...there's always Gayle," Mary said slowly. Gwen and Lana just looked at her like she was crazy, which he started to think she was, "Before you ask, I didn't tell her. She just overheard me when we were talking and then 'casually' brought up that she's totally down for any new superpowered blobs if we're handing them out. If you really need someone to host then she might do, right?"

"The fact that she's referring to it as a superpowered blob makes that a hard no." Gwen crossed her arms, "I like Gayle, I do, but it's pretty obvious she just wants something to give her powers. The reason I asked Cindy and Norah and Jess and my dad is cause I know they wouldn't just use it to start live streaming as another Costume. It's a child, not a power suit."

"Yeah, I figured as much. Gonna have to tell her the bad news then." She scratched the back of her head and sighed, "I guess we'll just have to keep looking. Might wanna name it first, though. Gonna be a hard sell if you don't even know what to call it...or if it has a gender. You call yours 'she', right?"

"If it's anything like the other symbiotes then I assume it'll take a sex once it bonds with something. For now 'it' seems appropriate," Peter said, attempting to make his voice low. Lana snorted and covered her mouth with both hands, "Is something funny, Lana?"

"Dude, your voice is...I'm sorry, but you trying to sound like Tracy Dick is just way too fucking cute."

"I. am. not. cute." He was Spider-Man, damn it. Even after he got his ugly mug shown all over New York most of the lowlives were smart enough to know when to cut and run. He wasn't going to let that damn Vampire's blood bath do him in.

"You know that's something a lot of kids say when they wanna look grown up, right? And that it never works?" Cindy snarked.

"Uh...we probably shouldn't piss him off, you two. He can still turn invisible and snap our necks," Mary said, though he didn't miss the slight smile she had.

"Oh, go to hell. Next time a demon comes out trying to eat your souls don't come crying to me."

"Aww, we're sorry, Pete. You want a glass of milk to make you feel better?" Lana snorted and laughed again.

"Fine, laugh it up..." Despite the teasing he oddly felt better. He'd been scared they would treat him differently, walk eggshells around like he really was a kid, but they still treated him like their friend. If there was one thing he hated it was being treated like an invalid, "Joking aside, what happened to you both? I understand why I'm late but it's not like either of you to play catch-up like this. Did you get into any trouble?"

"Yeah, couple of morons with hero complexes." Lana sneered and energy buzzed through her hands, "Lightboy and Darkbitch thought they were saving people by kidnapping em and dumping em outside of New York. Would've caved their faces in if Aracely didn't tell me not to. Oh and of course Cin here was too busy getting fucked to answer my phone calls, so thanks for that."

"Seriously?" He gave her a disapproving look, "I thought you'd balance your time better. I'm disappointed."

"I will spank you, you midget." Cindy glared at him half-heartedly, "And for your information I was following a lead with Feli. Scorpion's in tight with the Maggia and there's been a rash of killings we think are tied to that, but so far it's a dead end. Pretty hard to get info when people suddenly die of heroin overdose while we're interrogating them. While their hands are tied and they don't have a single needle mark. Probably a Gifted of some kind."

"I could help you with that."

"Maybe try fixing yourself first, tiny." That wasn't a no, though he wasn't looking forward to Felicia finding out about his condition.

"By the way, have you talked to Norah? She's been looking for you," Mary said to Gwen.

"Kinda. She's been texting me about how our ruse is going..." She sighed and shook her head. Even now she had her doubts on the plan, "I mean it's going well, everyone thinks we're totally broken up, but..." He'd seen some of the comments. As expected the majority of the public took Gwen's side, cause apparently these people had nothing better to do with their time than butting into the relationship of other people. He might've been hurt if it wasn't so sad.

"We could still go with Peter and Cindy's plan," Mary Jane said, "Heck, isn't Lana's friend psychic? Wouldn't that work?"

"I asked Aracely about it. She says mind reading isn't something she can focus on and sometimes it's hard to pick apart thoughts - sometimes she'll get what she wants, sometimes she'll just hear about what fetish you're hiding. I'll let you guys know if she gets better at it. Oh, by the way," She rummaged through her pocket and tossed a phone Peter's way, which he caught easily, "You need to take better care of your phone, Pete."

"Where did you get this?"

"That ninja chick you're running around with had it. Ask her." Great, so no chance of getting answers for that then, "By the way I put in a password. It's my birthday."

"Thanks..." He pocketed the phone, "So now what do we do? You still wanna go along with this ruse?"

"Too late to back out now." Gwen breathed out softly, "I'll stay here for a couple of days to watch over...uh, screw it let's call it Charlie for now, and after that I'll go back to patrolling. If Roxxon asks I'll say I was having my post-breakup pout."

"I think that's my cue to leave," Cindy said.

"Wait, you're going already?" Gwen asked.

"I gotta go finish up that case, kinda left Feli hanging when Lana called and you sent that group chat about your new pink baby." That was another thing - why the hell was that thing pink? About as far as White was considering how Gwen's partner looked, "I'll keep in contact, don't worry. Only reason I won't be is if I'm doing something really important." She gave a pointed look to Lana at that.

The younger brunette snorted, "Yeah, sure. I gotta go too anyway. We're setting up a place for Aracely with Hawkeye. Speaking of, you mind telling her to give us a discount, Spider-Gwen? We ain't all swimming in cash."

"Yeah, no prob. I'll ask Kate for a favor." Gwen turned to Mary, "You leaving too? You know you can stay."

"I'm gonna split too, sorry. Crimson's been grumbling since that little pink blob popped out and I'm getting pretty sick of it. I'll just take a swing around town, try to clear my head."

And just like that the two of them were alone. An uncomfortable silence settled over the room and the both of them refused to look the other in the eye. Gwen had just given birth and he'd turned back into a kid - all in all not the weirdest thing that happened to them, but still up there. It beat being dead, at least.

Peter looked towards her again and frowned. She sat on the bed, knees tucked to her chest with her arms wrapped around her legs. She looked small wrapped up in the baggy white sweatshirt and black, oversized shorts, 'Damn it...' He leaned back and closed his eyes. He wanted to touch her, to be there for her, but because they got careless he was stuck like this till Teresa found enough time to hop back to New York to bail him out. The only other option was making a deal with Satanna, but he didn't trust her enough not to turn him into girl or something.

Eventually he mustered up the courage to sit next to her. Not too close, but enough that she felt his presence, "...Sorry." She looked at him in confusion, "I'm only like this because I got careless-"

"Don't even, Peter. I don't know what happened but I'm damn sure you saved someone and that's the reason you look like that."

"...Rand saved us too so it's even as far as I'm considered." The right side of his mouth quirked up in a wry smile, "Probably better this way. Rand has that company he's running and even Matt's working as a lawyer. Least I can afford to go off for a week or two."

"You do remember we're trying to find you a job and into ESU, right?"

"I've actually had some luck there. Norah offered me a position as her 'official photomonkey' and Mary said she could talk to her boss about hiring me to work in that theatre." The latter would allow him to keep a closer eye on Mary too. Something was off with how she was acting, "What about you? Are you okay? Can't imagine giving birth to a symbiote is easy."

"It wasn't..." She laid back and sighed tiredly, "Honestly I'm fucking exhausted, but I feel...proud, I guess? Charlie may not be a normal baby but it's ours and I..." She trailed off. After a moment of hesitation Peter held her hand and squeezed. Gwen was hardly the largest tallest woman he knew but given his new state her hand easily dwarfed his. He didn't let it stop him.

"Peter-"

"I'm here for you." He smiled at her, "I may look like a kid now but I'm still me. If you need someone to lean on then don't hesitate to ask me."

"Not a good idea considering you're half my height." She grinned weakly and squeezed his hand in turn, "God, this is so fucking weird. I mean you look just like you did 12 years ago when we met." Back when they were just innocent kids who had no idea what'd happen to them. He didn't know if it was good or bad that, despite everything, he'd go through it again.

"I know. I probably gave Ben and May a heart attack when I showed up." Helen and Captain Stacy didn't seem to care that much, at least, "...Our lives are crazy."

"Just figured that out now?" She laughed, soft and genuine. It made him happy to hear, "Just promise me you'll be careful, alright? I know I've been really overprotective lately, and you being a 7 year old now really doesn't help, but I'm trusting you that you know not to push yourself too much...and keep an eye on Murderdock. Don't like the idea of him hanging around you while you're like this."

"Gwen, as much as I don't trust him I really doubt he's doing anything with kids...at least not without a demon pulling his strings."

"Yeah, sure." She snorted and let go of his hand, "I'm gonna go visit Charlie. Wanna come with?"

"In a bit. I'll go check on Ben and May first."

They went their separate ways and Peter made his way to the room the old couple stayed. He stopped in front of the door and suddenly felt nervous. He'd gotten better at talking to them, especially after those three months in France, but he still found it difficult sometimes. He knew a part of them still considered him the son they lost even after everything.

"You just gonna stand there?" He jumped and turned to the new voice behind him to find Helen looking down at him with a slight smile, a cup of hot chocolate on each hand, "Cause I'm pretty sure Ben and May don't have your fancy spider-sense."

"No, its just..."

"Gotta face em some time, little Peter." Oh, great, back with that nickname.

He sighed and knocked on the door. Ben opened the door after a few seconds and gave them both a strained smile, "Hey you two. Come in, May's just laying down."

The two of them followed him inside and Peter immediately felt guilty when he saw sitting on the bed with a hot towards over her head. Besides Gwen the two of them were the closest to him - the kid, both of them - before that damn prom night, "...Sorry." He didn't bother trying to lower his voice, which made the apology sounded high and even more pathetic.

May was the first to reply, "It's not your fault." He'd heard that way too much. He was getting tired of everyone telling him that, "It was just...it was a bit of a shock. Seeing you like this just made me remember."

"Before I became a freak, you mean?" There was no bitterness or accusation in the words.

"You don't have to worry about us, son. We've experienced weirder."

"I feel I have to chip in considering I came back from the dead after ten years." Helen set the cups on a side table, "Oh and my daughter was a year shy of being able to drink and my husband got a new girlfriend/fiancee, which I didn't find out about till way later. If I can go through that without going nuts then I'm sure Ben and May'll be fine seeing you turned into a munchkin for a bit."

"Not everyone's as strong as you, Helen." Ben chuckled lowly.

"Hm...you guys are planning to leave soon, right?" Peter asked.

"Yeah. We stayed overtime cause Gwen mentioned her new baby and we wanted to be here when it arrived," Helen said, "We've actually gone way past our allotted time to be here."

"Sorry about that...and please don't say it's not my fault," he said, cutting Ben off, "It is my fault, but it doesn't mean I'm going to spend the rest of my life whinging about it."

"It's not all bad. France is a nice place to live and we've made our own life and friends there." May smiled, "But you really should visit us more. You left with barely a goodbye before."

"Sorry about that. Had a lead on Sowande being in South Africa." Wasn't him, but he did help that rebellion stop that warlord razing all the villages, so he considered it time well spent, "Anyway, I just wanted to make sure you were both alright."

"They're tougher than they look, Peter," Helen said, "Speaking of kids, they were really excited when they heard Gwen was pregnant...even if it was cause they thought it was your and Gwen's."

"Is this really the right time to talk about this?" He gestured to himself.

"You're not actually a kid, though? I mean you look like one but I'm pretty sure most kids don't carry around guns and or can turn invisible." Helen shrugged. He didn't know whether to be impressed or put off by her complete nonchalance, "All I'm saying is that it has to happen at some point, right? I mean there's no rush but I'm not getting any younger."

"Me and Gwen haven't exactly thought about it. Technically I'm not allowed to even drink yet so it's not something that comes up.." And he had no idea if she even could get pregnant considering she was a ball of radioactive blood with a symbiotic lifeform attached to her. That wasn't even mentioning himself coming back from the dead. Twice, "Sorry to disappoint you."

"We're not disappointed or anything like that. We're happy if you both are happy."

Peter left them on that somewhat awkward note and made his way to where the new symbiote was being kept. The door opened with a soft whoosh and he found Gwen crouched in front of the clear container, her face lit up in a bright smile as she poked the pink blob. The blob itself seemed to enjoy the attention, alternating between rubbing up against her fingers and 'talking' to the black symbiote that shared its temporary home.

"You look like you're having fun." He stood next to her.

"Yeah, she's really energetic!" So it was a 'she' now? Going by what she knew it probably took her voice so it could talk, "She's...actually, it's kinda hard to explain. Why not touch her and see?"

"Uh...you sure that's a good idea after what happened last time?"

"It will be fine so long as Chocolate does not attach to you as a host."

Peter refrained from commenting on the name and reached out a tentative hand towards the pink blob. It 'stared' at the offending limb for a second before suddenly pouncing, "Hi!" He winced and almost pulled back. The damn thing was loud. And copying his voice, which didn't much help, "Who are you? You're small! Like me! Everything else is so big!" Why was its voice so damn high?

He felt silly talking to a blob of pink goop attached to his hand, but he was working together with someone who was possessed by the Devil so what did he know?

"My name's Peter-"

"Peter? Oh, Peter! Mom talked about you before!" Mom? He gave Gwen a sideways glance and she just smiled and shrugged, "Parent knows you too! She said you were mom's other Other! Why are you so small? She said you were tall! You're not tall!"

"You don't have to keep saying that, I get it." He sighed and wondered which side of the family Charlie the Chocolate blob got its energy from, "You're really talktative for someone born just an hour ago."

"Really? Parent says its odd too. She said she was quiet first before she trusted Mom. But I don't want to be quiet, I want to talk! Everything's so bright here! And I wanna leave the box but Parent won't let me! The box is boring!"

"You were just born, little one. You need to stay first, then you can explore."

"But it's boring here! Why can't I bond with Peter and explore like you and Mom?"

"He's not a viable candidate for symbiosis due to his condition. We are trying to find you a host but both you and your Other must agree to it. Not everyone is so eager to bond with others like us."

"What? Why? It'll be great! I can do hero stuff like you and mom do! Save the city with my very own Other!"

"...How does it know that?" Peter asked.

"Memories are shared genetically, it seems. If Chocolate is ever to have offspring of their own then the memory line will continue."

"I'm just glad she's happy." Gwen rubbed the top of the smooth blob's 'body' and looked like she was resisting the urge to pick it up out of the box and squealing, "Not all of are the memories we have are the best, so..."

"Well, she has you and your partner here for her. Can't think of better parents."

"You're here too, remember? You and dad and mom and Jess and MJ and everyone else. But you should probably fix your...thing; don't want her to keep calling you small, right?"

"Yeah, yeah..." Maybe he really should try to make a deal with Satanna...


SpiderGod766: Yo I found Spinerette's dating profile on Flint! -embedded link-

Brave2000: Old news dude, people've been sending her match requests for like a week now.

usernamesarebullshit: Anyone had any luck?

Crieger: None so far...

The Red Ghost22: I matched and we set up for a date a month ago before she did the identity reveal. She had to postpone twice so I unmatched, figured it wasn't worth it. If I only knew...

Brave2000: Dude you were this close to sleeping with an Avenger!

The Red Ghost22: Yeah, I know. My friends still give me shit over it.

usernamesarebullshit: On the bright side according to some tabloids apparently she just uses Flint for hookups instead of dates so it wouldn't have lasted long anyway.

Spinerette: For your information I do use it to find dates, but it's kinda hard to get those when you're always so busy. And while I'm here, PLEASE STOP SPAMMING ME WITH INVITES. If asking once doesn't work asking 7 more times won't help.


He was getting too old for this shit.

Detective Christian Blake leaned back on his chair and watched idly as Spinerette the avenger wonder girl dragged another one of the costumed freaks to the holding cell and slammed the barred doors shut. Looked like one of those punk kids who worshiped that pumpkin freak, "You can't stop us! The Jack-o-Lanterns are coming back, baby! We're gonna-"

"Get your asses beat before the next group of schmucks decide they've got our numbers. Then we'll kick their asses too. Shut up." She raised a fist and the pathetic fuck actually fell on his ass when he scrambled back. He almost snorted and ignored the creaking of his left leg. Damn thing always hurt when it rained, "Now be a good boy and tell us all about the rest of your fanboy group's hiding."

Blake ignored the back and forth and looked down at his desk. Same old reports, same shitty coffee he kept drinking to survive the night shift. He was one of the old dogs, as the rest of the guys in the shift 'affectionately' called him, and he more than lived up to the name. His face was tan and wrinkled with short, cropped salt and pepper hair and a beard that was the neatest thing about him. Even his suit looked old, a dull gray and white number that he'd worn since he first made detective over 30 years ago.

Not he had to look too presentable. He'd been a night shift desk jockey for the past 8 years and chances were he wasn't gonna gonna change that before the place finally forced him to retire. Truth be told he'd been thinking more and more about doing it even before the chief finally put her foot down.

All cause of them.

He eyed avenger girl with slightly narrowed eyes. She was talking to a couple of the greenbloods about a new case of hers and they were eating it all up. He almost sneered right then and there. Back then you had to earn the badge. Take the test, hit the streets, get your hands dirty. And now? Now you just had to get lucky with radioactive bugs and know the right people. Back then if you got in cause of who you knew everyone'd treat you like the nepotistic little shit you were, but here they were heaping their praises even when she came and went whenever the hell she wanted and worked with thieves and vigilantes.

Except Masters, but he wasn't any better. He seemed to think screaming louder than anyone else was his way of sticking it to the their Avenger loan but really it just made him look like a child.

Speaking of kids, she looked way too damn young. She said she was practically pushing 30 but the way she looked you'd think she was a fresh college co-ed. That was another thing that bothered him. She had way too much power and leeway for someone who looked like they weren't old enough to drink. She just waltzed in and out as she damn well pleased and no one stopped her. It was pathetic.

And it made his side job harder than it should be.

Sighing, he stood up from his desk and made his way outside, his ankle throbbing in full since he forgot to bring his painkillers. No one really paid the old dog any mind when he went on one of his smoke breaks. To the rest of the youngblood he might as well have been furniture, "Tch..." He took out a cigarette and lit it as soon as he was outside. It'd only be a matter of time till that punk in the holding cell talked.

Time to inform his 'benefactor'.

He limped his way to the drop off point, his only company the muggy night air. He was one of the 'survivors' of the purge last year when that journalist spilled the beans on the former kingpin's assets. After that it didn't matter what you were - police chiefs, mayoral candidates, priests; you'd be put under the microscope all the same. That was what happened when people found out you were taking bribes from demons. New Yorkers could take human corruption just fine, but even they had to draw the line somewhere.

He was low enough on the totem pole that he managed to slip on by. For the most part he stuck to the small gigs: a little payoff here, a look the other way there. Most he ever went was shooting the occasional lowlife for 'resisting arrest', but no one looked twice at those. So another Yancy Street Gang punk died and his merchandise went missing? Just another gang war.

Probably helped he got em from punks with rapsheets a mile wide. He considered it...community service. Another less murderous scumbag out on the streets and he got a little kickback in return. Wasn't that different from what some of those other vigilantes did.

Blake wasn't stupid. Sure he sold the odd hit here or there but he wasn't dumb enough to try and make himself the new Kingpin like every other young punk thought they could be when Murdock was taken down. He did his work, took the occasional side job and that was that. You stick your head out and it got lopped off. No, he was perfectly happy doing his part and leaving it at that.

Till he got that damn email.

He finished off the cigarette and stomped it out in frustration. It all started a month ago. A single email, no subject and no sender and nothing on it but a dozen pictures, each more incriminating than the last. Pictures of him taking buyoffs from pimps and dealers, taking drugs from the still-warm bodies of scumbags people wouldn't miss. Something told him that Captain Watanabe wouldn't look at his side job the same way he did. He wasn't one of them fancy Avengers, after all.

He stopped at the designated alley and, ignoring the way his joints protested, knelt down to pick up the phone covered by a plastic bag underneath the dumpster. This was the offer he got - in exchange for his secret stalker not blowing the whistle he'd have to make the occasional phone call. He wouldn't have to kill anyone and in exchange he just had to tell them when certain people got caught by the police.

Sadly for him those Lantern punks were one of em. He dialed the pre-programmed number and gave his report, if you could even call it that, as quick as he could. He had no clue why his stalker wanted the info and he didn't care to ask.

It was the same deal either way - they'd email him a location, he'd make a report if anything ever came up and then they'd email him another place after a day or two. None of the places were ever used twice and the phones were disposable; one call and the circuits got fried. If he were a bettin' man he'd say that his stalker was bankrolling the crazies, but he had no idea why anyone'd waste money on that.

The phone fizzled as soon as he cut the call and he dumped it in the trash.

He'd paid the piper today, but how long could he keep it up? Wasn't like he could just quit; his 'benefactor' made it very clear that if he became useless those pictures were going out to every journalist in the city and he could kiss cushy retirement goodbye. Cops didn't last long in the slammer, especially ones like him who lasted so long. Grudges lasted a lifetime in the big house.

He fished out another cigarette and made his way to one of his older haunts; if Captain Watanabe asked he was following up on a case. Yancy Street, so affectionately labelled the 'ass crack of New York' by both locals and outsiders. When Hell's Kitchen was 'purified', if you could even call it that, a lot of the dregs decided to look for new haunts.

Better for him, at least; saved him a trip.

He saw it as soon as he stepped foot inside - dealers giving out to everyone from bastards desperate for relief or yuppies looking for a high, streetwalkers parading their 'goods' out in the open. Each and every vice right there for the taking if you knew where to look. He leg throbbed again and he walked towards his old alley. The old pimp here owed him a favor.

Mars, cause apparently Pluto was already taken, looked as far away from a pimp as you could think. He wasn't a muscle-bound meathead and he wasn't a fruit who wore furs and canes. He looked more like a used car salesman with his tacky blue suit and oily, slicked back hair, and the quality of his 'products' matched that. Most of them were addicted to something and had the bruises to match.

But they were cheap and if he wanted something pretty he'd look at a magazine, not here.

"Christian, my old friend!" Mars spread his arms wide and grinned, showing off his stained teeth. Blake never could figure out what the hell that accent was; always seemed to switch every time he came here, "How's the knee?"

"Is Min here?" he asked.

"Ah...no, sorry. Minnie, she has gone to visit family." So she was dead, either cause the drugs finally kicked in or one of her clients didn't like her performance. Damn shame, "Ah, but I have new girl, very fresh! Still unpopped!"

"How young we talking here?"

"Has not even had her first blood yet!" And then he grinned like a kid who got an A on their test. Blake just felt sick. He wasn't a saint by any means, but he wasn't one of those sick fucks who got off to kids or cartoons. If he were an honest cop he would've cuffed the guy then and there, but then the other boys would've asked what he was doing and Mars knew too much.

Or he could just shoot him, but that wouldn't do much. Some other pimp would take over and nothing would change.

So he just shook his head and let out a long suffering sigh, "That ain't what I'm here for."

"If you say so, Christian." He dragged his name out, like he was learning words for the very first time, "Perhaps you-"

And that was as far as Mars got before a blood red rope snagged him by the neck and pulled him up the roof. Instinct kicked in and Blake reached for his gun but by the time he looked up all he saw was Mars' feet being dragged over the edge of the roof right before his screams were cut off.

"What the f-"

A red stick came to his right and smacked his right hand hard. Blake dropped the gun and another stick hit him straight in the forehead. He stumbled back from the force of the sudden hit and a guy dressed in all red landed in front of him and kicked his gun away, "Let's try this without guns, hm?" He grinned at Blake's murderous glare, "Never did understand the appeal myself."

"...I know you." Daredevil, or at least that was what everyone else called him. Wasn't like the guy advertised.

"Funny, I thought I was only famous around Hell's Kitchen."

"You're a vigilante. I'm a cop, I'm-"

"An attempted solicitor? I did make out your conversation with our soon-to-be departed friend there. Tell me, what part of the police manual states that prostitution is a healthy way to spend your time? I'm just curious." Blake's glare hardened and he stood up shakily. He wasn't going to get intimidated by a guy in an oversized halloween costume, "No response? Then perhaps you'd like to talk to my friend."

Daredevil looked up behind him and when Blake turned around he almost fell down again at what he saw. It was a woman, that much was obvious by the curves of the suit, but not one he recognized. She clung to the wall by the tips of her fingers like Spider-Woman and looked down at him without a word, her back pressed against the bricks. Her entire body was covered in a black and red fabric that left no inch of skin or hair to be seen.

And she was swathed with blood.

He almost reached for his gun again before she suddenly landed in front of him, "He on the list?" Her voice was smooth; a singer's tongue if he'd ever heard it. It didn't match anything else about her.

"No, but he's still of interest. Just not for us. The information he have could be useful."

"Whatever you two freaks want, I'm not telling you shit!" He spat out before he could think better of it. Maybe it was pride or maybe it was just complete desperation.

The woman, if he could even call her that, narrowed her eyes up at him, "Oh really?"

Her face split apart. It was hard to describe what he saw. Tongue, teeth and blood seemed to mix together in the distorted thing she had for a face. Blake screamed and he was sure he would've fallen to the ground if the monster in front of him hadn't grabbed his shoulders to keep him upright.

Summoning whatever strength he could, Blake shoved it off and ran down to the end of the alley and the waiting streets, screaming all the while.

"Hm...that went well." Matt hummed and picked up the service revolver the corrupt detective had left behind, trying to ignore the smell of fresh urine in the air. Evidently Mr. Blake had pissed himself. Ms. Watson changed herself back to normal - well, as normal as she could be - and crossed her arms, "Is something the matter? You seem upset."

"Not sure how much I like being the bad cop," she muttered.

"But you perform the role so well! Far better than I could, at least. I'm afraid my eyes aren't nearly as horrifying anymore unless one has a fear of blind people."

"Whatever. Why did we even go after him? Only that guy was on the list you got." She turned to the building, "Speaking of, he mentioned a kid..."

"Better for our new interested friend to deal with that?"

"You kept mentioning that. Who's this friend?"

"I think he's talking about me."

Just in time. Matt tilted his head slightly in greeting as Ms. Moon walked down the length of the alley towards them. Ms. Watson froze on the spot and, if he could see expressions, he could surmise she must've been cycling through varying degrees of shock, fear, shame and anger; the last of which would've been directed towards him for his duplicity.

To be fair, he only promised he wouldn't tell Peter and Ms. Moon.

"C-Cindy, what are you..."

"Got a call from the D.A that I'd find something interesting here. Gotta admit this wasn't what I was expecting." She crossed her arms and stared at Ms. Watson, completely ignoring him, "Didn't realize you two were partnering up. Do Gwen and Peter know?"

"N-No, and don't tell them!" He almost laughed at the sudden about face. Gone was the cold vigilante killer and in her place was a desperate young woman scared of disappointing her friends, "This is...I was-"

"Guessing that dead body up there's cause of you?" Ms. Watson hesitated before eventually nodding. Ms. Moon sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose, "I thought Gwen was trying to wean you off of that?"

"She is..."

"Well she's not doing a very good job." Her words might have come out far harsher than she intended given how Ms. Watson flinched, "Look, I can't exactly call you out since I'm friends with Pete and we both know what he gets up to, but Gwen knows about him. You're hiding this from them, and your partner here isn't exactly who I'd pick." She finally turned her head to acknowledge him.

"I'm not doing this with him because I want to..."

"So someone's forcing you to do this? He's blackmailing you?" Even without sight he could feel her glare.

"Not...no, he's not." Huh, he halfway expected she'd throw him under the bus, "This isn't...we're trying to find the people connected to that bastard Arcade-"

"And killing them." Another nod and another sigh, "Cindy, just let me-"

"Explain? Explain what? That you're going behind Gwen's back to go on a vigilante killing spree with Matt Murdock, of all people?" Ms. Watson flinched once more, "I am the last person to call you out considering the things I've done, and not to mention the fact that I'm friends with a cat burglar and a mercenary, but neither of them were doing things behind people's backs. Gwen has no idea you're doing this."

"I'll...I was planning to tell her." Not the whole truth and yet not a whole lie, "Eventually. It's just...how the hell am I supposed to bring it up?"

"Maybe you shouldn't have done it in the first place?"

Ms. Watson didn't respond to that and simply swung away without another word. Ms. Moon's posture stiffened, debating on whether to follow after her or not, before she decided it wasn't worth it.

Ms. Moon sucked in a breath through her teeth and faced him now, "Why'd you call me here? Cause I swear if it's just case you wanted me to find out Blake used prostitutes I swear I'll hurt you."

"You might find it interesting to know that he was spying on your activities. He made a phone call about your recent capture of one of Jack-o-Lantern's fans?"

"Really? Him?"

"It's often the ones we most often overlook." He hummed, "I thought you'd like to know. From what Karen gathered it seems as if he's connected to those who would wish you harm."

"Hm...I'll check it out. Oh, and one other thing." She webbed the gun from his hands and pulled it towards her without warning. He didn't get a chance to make a remark on it when she pointed it towards him, her finger on the trigger, "If you hurt Mary Jane I will kill you. There won't be any drama or speeches, you'll be dead and I won't even feel bad. Are we clear?"

"As well as we can be given the circumstances." He held up his hands in mock surrender and grinned, "Though, I feel I should clarify that she's doing this of her own free will. I didn't force her into anything and I doubt I ever could given her abilities."

Ms. Moon grunted and pocketed the revolver. Blackmail material was always good, "...You wanted me to find out about her doing this. Why? Think I'll tell Pete and Gwen for you?"

"I highly doubt they'd believe it if it came from mouth." He shrugged, "Tell them if you wish. Or don't. At the end of the day Ms. Watson's an adult and she's capable of making her own choices; and that includes the consequences that come from said choices."

"God damn it, why do I always get stuck with this?"

"You complain and yet I'm sure you'll help her. After tonight and you keeping her secret I'm sure she'll see you as a confidant of sorts."

"...You planned for that, didn't you?"

"Hm? I have no idea what you're talking about. Now if you'll excuse me I have to meet Peter and the rest of our little ragtag group." He attached the end of the billie club to the nearby roof and swung away, leaving Ms. Moon to stew on her new responsibilities.


LastGraveDigger: So serious question, but why did Spider-Woman and Spider-Man work together? All respect to the guy but it's pretty clear that Spider-Woman's WAY stronger than he is so she really doesn't need his help.

Lolrus555: Not everythings about strength man. Spider-Woman said before that her investigation skills aren't the best so it makes sense that she relied on someone else for that. Apparently Peter Parker was always smart.

Veredis: That and it's not like he's helpless -embedded video- This was footage someone took of him and the Defenders fighting demons in Hells Kitchen. And according to the Black Cat Interviews Spider-Man was blind when they did this.

KasugaRomio: That and he's one of the few heroes who fights the supernatural along with Moon Knight and Fire Biker. Black Cat confirmed she and the rest of the Defenders were just there cause they hated Murdock not to fight demons.

LastGraveDigger: Speaking of anyone notice that there are way more demons and Vampires and shit running around? Did a hellgate open while I wasn't looking?

Veredis: Murdock said in an interview that the demon possessing him kept people from seeing them. Now that he's gone everyone else is out in the open.

KasugaRomio: What we really need are more heroes who can fight them. I mean fucking look at this - embedded image- That's Moon Knight punching ghosts! Love to see Captain America do that...


Done. I'll admit I enjoyed writing the second part more than the first, although it ended up feeling rather flat since I had to tone down the corrupt cop's segments to fit a bit more with the T rating. I also re-wrote his character so he ended up having some standards rather than being a complete asshole who was willing to sleep with kids.

That and it's been a while since I wrote someone so cynical and assholish so I wanted to try again. May write more of these types of segments dependent on the reception and my mood.

As for the new baby symbiote (name still pending), I based it off of Gortys from Borderlands and Jarro from Justice League. Whether it comes off as cute or really damn annoying depends on you.

Questions:

1. Not sure if I asked this before, but why exactly did you guys vote for Laura? Is it really just cause 'she's smol' and nothing else?

2. I wonder if you guys would've preferred if Cindy remained naive and childish like when I first introduced her or if you guys prefer her more cynical, dour characterization now. Essentially she went from being a less strict Gwen (original personality) to a less assholish Noir (new personality).

3. Do you guys miss/want more of the arguments Noir and Gwen had before or do you prefer their much more stable relationship now?

Review Answers:

Alexthesouthparkghostrider: Peter can't bond to symbiotes, remember? Magic and Science don't mix.

Brave2000 - I'm planning something with it. I wanna explore how the Hand treats children...

SpiderGod766 - Something tells me Gwen wouldn't wanna name her new symbiote baby Scorn.

LastGraveDigger - Kirby...something to consider.

Anti-W.T.F - The tweeter segments can be safely skipped since it's just me taking the piss. As for Punisher, his screentime got shafted hard when the Defenders membership expanded. Originally he was supposed to be Peter's sort-of mentor the same way Captain America was going to be Gwen's. Because of Lana and Bullseye his plot importance got cut to the point he was just an extra gun.

As for Howard, he might appear soon. Depends if I can fit him in. Also, team battle? The Defenders did it last chapter.

ToastyIce - Accident? Uh...no, I really doubt Gwen or Venom would call it that.

JediRecall - Hey, a new reader :) Hope you keep reading and reviewing :D

Rc48177 - Been getting your reviews lately :) You really seem fond of Moon Knight. Also, you don't find Gwen's overprotective behavior annoying?

The Red Ghost22 - Spider-Boi Noir's gonna be a hoot to write, if only for the mental image alone. Sadly he promised Gwen he wouldn't smoke...though whiskey's not off the table.