This chapter's shorter than normal but review for the exams really has me swamped and I can't focus. It's also mostly setup, so hopefully the next chapter lives up to what I'm going for here.

Anyway, a part of me is really looking back on the Noir/Gwen ship given the new arguments people have made that Gwen might be aromantic in canon. Too late to do anything about it now but it might've been fun to tackle the idea of that kind of personality.

By the way, I put up a new poll on the authors page. This one's more lighthearted and more of a curiosity thing.


"Welcome back to just the facts with J. Jonah Jameson. Now I've been getting a lot of 'tweets' asking me what my opinion is on those two menaces splitting up. People expect, not unjustifiably, that I have a well thought out opinion given my focus on both of their crimes."

"Well, here's what I think about it: NOTHING! And do you know why? Because I don't concern myself with the lovelives of two no good criminals! Now I will admit that I told my viewers of my SLIGHT sympathy for Spider-Man given Spider-Woman's deviancy, but I simply wanted to warn the public to keep their children safe from that masked jezebelle! It doesn't mean I care about 'ships' or any other nonsense the youth of today care about!"

"So Spider-Man and Spider-Woman broke up, what does it matter? They're still menaces and they're still going around thinking themselves above the law and the people they claim to protect! Until they go to the proper authorities with mask in hand I'll continue my thankless work of exposing them as the menaces they are! Frankly it makes me sad knowing that of all things people focus on it's that these two criminals aren't making kissy faces anymore!"

"Now, we should focus on actual news. According to eyewitness testimony Spider-Man's new group of deviants KIDNAPPED A CHILD! Now I think..."


"You seem cheery."

Matt looked down and grinned while Peter glared up at him, arms crossed and eyes narrowed. The both of them were at their designated rooftop waiting for Echo to finally show herself after she'd skipped out last time. A short distance away was Moon Knight and Rand, the former with his eyes glued to a tablet while the latter tried (and failed) to meditate.

"Oh?" Matt drawled lazily, "You can tell that?"

"Yeah, and I know that's not a good sign." The blind bastard only smiled when someone else was suffering. Nowadays he kept it to the dregs of humanity but he couldn't ignore the idea of him slipping back, "Who'd you kill?"

"Peter, I am offended at the notion that you think I have to kill someone in order to find enjoyment in life!" He said, voice high with mock offense. Peter just looked at him flatly, "But if you must know I've been out and about with a delightful young woman."

"It doesn't count if you have to pay for it, Matt."

Matt, as expected, just laughed at that. He had to admit he found it more than a little annoying that nothing ever seemed to faze the blind bastard, "Bold of you to assume our relationship is in that nature. No, no, I'm certain that she hates me." And yet he was still smiling. Peter wanted to punch him in the face again but he knew that he'd still smile on top of that.

"I feel sorry for whoever has to put up with you..."

"It's a mutually beneficial agreement, though I suspect that'll soon come to an end now that she's found a new confidant." He smirked and played with the escrima stick with one hand, "But why are we only discussing my relationships? After all you're the one who's part of New York's premier Super couple. Or was, given your fake break-up. Tell me, how are you and Miss. Stacy doing?"

"That's none of your business."

"Oh? And here I was worried about you. Considering your current condition I wondered how you and Ms. Stacy handled the physical aspects of your so-called ended relationship."

"...What the hell are you suggesting?"

Was he seriously...

"Suggesting? Me? I would never!" He gasped dramatically, "I'm simply expressing my friendly concern that perhaps Ms. Stacy might be taking advantage of you. Love, after all, is blind and given how she often wears her heart on her sleeve I wouldn't be surprised if her feelings for you overcame her reluctance at your new state. True love conquers all, hm?"

He was.

If looks could kill then Peter's glare wouldn't have even left behind a corpse to bury. Matt leaned back on the vent and grinned smugly while Peter looked a hair's breath from taking out his pistol (loaned from Moon Knight) and shooting him between the eyes. Even Moon Knight and Rand stopped to look, the former looking between the two of them warily while the latter alternated between concern and disgust at Matt's suggestion.

"I'm simply worried about you, Peter. We've all heard Jameson's rants on her deviancy-"

Peter unholstered his gun and shot him right in the chest. It was a warning shot - the caliber was low and he aimed at where the body armor was thickest - but he knew it'd leave a nasty bruise at least. Matt fell off the vent and landed on his back, wheezing slightly before laughing again and making another terrible joke. None of them bothered to help him up, not even Rand.

Thankfully they didn't have to wait long for Echo to arrive. She landed on the roof with a graceful flip and stopped when she caught sight of him. They hadn't told her about his condition, though that was mostly because he figured that she wouldn't care. Nothing ever seemed to faze her.

"Good, you're finally here." He stepped off the pipe and jerked his thumb to Moon Knight, "Spector's looking for a new in we might have and a couple of us need to interrogate Sowande so-"

He was cut off when she suddenly crouched down (damn he was short...) in front of him and poked his right cheek. He hadn't bothered to wear a mask just yet and the narrow glare he sported was clear for all to see. Despite that the quiet woman's only response was to tilt her head slightly and poke his cheek again while Matt snickered behind them.

She tried to go for a third when he batted away her hand, "What the hell are you doing?"

"She's simply curious, Peter," Matt said, "Children are used by the Hand, certainly, but they're often kept in different locations till they reach their teenage years. I was one of the few exceptions given my abilities. Even then we never had much contact."

He finally managed to push her off before he turned to Matt, "Contact? You're saying you're the same age?" That didn't match. She looked like a teenager, maybe a few years past 20 if they pushed it.

"Oh no, I assume she's much older than I am. Don't be fooled by her appearance. While I can't make out her physical features due to my condition, I assure you that she's more than old enough to match the Parkers or the former Captain Stacy."

"Let me guess: Chi?" He wasn't even surprised anymore. If Stick could move like that at the ripe young age of 106 then someone like Echo shouldn't have been a surprise. He really should've figured it out sooner.

"That and some combination of her status as the Black Sky, which is why I was surprised at her turning against the Hand so soon. At first I believed that she thought you could free her from her binds, but then I realized she had less self-centered reasons. Such as family."

Echo turned to Matt, her narrowed eyes obvious even through her mask, but made no move to do anything else. Both Peter and Rand looked at Matt questioningly while Moon Knight grunted and paid them no mind, "You weren't curious why she wasn't present the night prior?"

"Lana told me that she helped her rescue that friend of hers." He still had no idea why, but he owed her for that.

"Yes, well, it's common for parents to come to their child's rescue, isn't it?"

It didn't take long for the words to sink in, "Child? ...You're saying that Aracely girl is-"

"Her daughter, yes." Matt hummed, "I can only assume that the Hand were unaware of that fact or simply didn't care when they had a hand, pun intended, in imprisoning her with the rest of those poor people down at the docks. I doubt it's a coincidence that she chose to ally with us shortly after your adopted sister rescued her daughter. If it were anyone else who came to her rescue I doubt she'd be here now."

Peter turned back to the quiet ninja, "Does she know?" A pause then a brief shake of the head, "...Do you plan to tell her?" Another shake, "So I'm guessing that means you don't want us to tell her either."

He didn't need a reply to that. Iron Fist frowned and stood, "But why? Maybe I don't know enough to say so, but wouldn't she be happy to find out her mother's alive? I mean Moon Knight's back together with Wasp and they have a daughter together."

"Not everything ends up happily, Daniel," Spector said, still not looking up from the screen, "While I and Janet are attempting to reconcile our previous relationship Hope has lived without a father for the first 9 years of her life and is obviously reluctant to start a relationship now. I expect that we will never truly bond as family given the almost decade we've spent apart and I assume that the same will occur if Echo makes overtures to a mother-daughter bond."

"But..."

"Take it from me, Danny - absence doesn't really make the heart grow fonder. My mother and I are more than enough proof of that." Matt said.

"We're wasting time here." Peter frowned and looked to Moon Knight, "Are you done with whatever that is?"

"Yes." He dismissed the screen and moved to join them, "I have been in contact with Maria Hill. She is currently working with the FBI and they're investigating some of the Hand's assets."

"And here I was hoping Hill choked on a lemon when I wasn't looking." Admittedly he didn't have as much of a grudge against the former agent as one might've expected. He still wasn't a fan after what she did to him and being complicit with hiding the truth but after S.H.I.E.L.D's (sort of) confession and public dissolution he found it hard to keep the anger up.

"And what does the former agent tell us?" Matt asked.

"Currently they're investigating the Hand's human trafficking operations. Different Fingers gather from different pools but a decent size of the Hand's forces come from victims whose minds they break." Yeah, he knew that already. The only reason that he hadn't been crushed by the guilt was because he also knew that the change was permanent. Once their minds were broken there was nothing left but puppet for the Hand to manipulate.

"The Hand are monsters, we already knew that. What does that have to do with our current plan?"

"Children are one of the most sought after resources." Moon Knight stared down at him and Peter immediately understood, "While the broken puppets are numerous they are just that - puppets. Little use beyond tossing at enemies till they expire. They have no intelligence, no creativity, and that makes them limited. A child that has been indoctrinated, however..."

"All of the loyalty, none of the diminished use." Matt laughed under his breath, "But of course that leads to the possibility of them turning against you such as Echo and even myself, to an extent. Evidently they consider it a worthy enough investment to keep at it."

"I'm guessing you want me to play the part of a new 'investment'?" Peter asked.

"Yes. The Hand know our faces now, but your unexpected transformation could be a boon. We could plant you into one of their shipping containers while you play the part of the innocent victim. You will have to play your role and gather information. Safehouses, assets, anything we can use to track them down. We will have minimal contact with you until extraction."

"I'm not sure I like this idea," Rand said, "We're putting Spider-Man into a lot of risk with this. And if you know where one of their containers is why don't we just save the kids?"

"Because even finding this one container took Maria Hill months of investigations and interrogations. We can rescue those children tonight, but there will be dozens if not hundreds more that are shipped to the Hand's waiting clutches. If Spider-Man should succeed here then we can put a stop to this operation, cutting off both a source of the Hand's forces and saving any future victims."

"The needs of the many, huh?" Spider-Man sighed. He saw the logic in it, but he wasn't much a fan of the idea of going days pretending to be the victim, "Guessing you'll inject me with those nano codec things Cin has?"

"Correct. A reminder that you should only contact us in order to relay info or in the case of an emergency. Echo and Matthew will track the vans while Iron Fist and I will stay in order to interrogate Sowande."

"Don't suppose you'll give me some time to tell my friends not to worry?" The last thing he needed was Lana or Gwen panicking and breaking down doors once he went three days without contact.

"Be quick about it. The shipping container will be emptied soon."

Peter rolled his eyes and made a group call. All of them answered except for Mary, which he didn't think too much about. Probably off doing her 'side job'. He explained it as quickly as he could- going undercover, cutting off contact for at least a few days, the works. Gwen and Lana, as expected, were rather put off while Cindy and Norah just told him to be careful and take pictures, respectively.

"Listen, I really have to go." It was just him and Gwen now, "I'll be fine, okay?"

"I still don't like this. I mean I'd get it if you were going undercover while you're normal, but as a 7 year old? I know you still have your powers, but..."

"I didn't help kill a demon just to get taken out by his toadies. I'll be fine." He smiled at her, "Besides, you're the one who's going to deal with Roxxon, remember? Compared to that this is gonna be easy."

"Not so sure about that..."

"Just trust me. I love you."

"I love you too."

He cut the call and made his way back to the others, "Say a single word and I'm putting the next bullet through your mouth, Matt." The Devil of Hell's Kitchen held up his hands in mock surrender and didn't say another word, "Alright, gimme the injection. Let's get this over with."

Moon Knight handed him the syringe and he injected it to his neck with a slight wince. He hated needles, "Right, anything else we need?"

"It will look more believable if you showed signs of injury. The Hand often take the desperate and those who they believe will be open to their indoctrination."

And then he pulled out a knife. Peter just sighed and took the offered blade. If he slept it'd heal, but he wasn't planning on it. Wouldn't have been the first time he didn't sleep for days on end.

"Anyone says anything they're getting shot. You too, Rand." He dug the knife through his upper left arm and hissed. The cut wasn't too deep, but it was enough to look nasty. Rand looked distinctly sick and turned away. Peter didn't blame him. He might've had the stomach for it if Peter had been normal but seeing a 7 year old cut himself with a knife wasn't something most people could look at.

The the next one went to his right cheek down to his jaw. Peter grit his teeth to keep from saying anything and made a two final cuts, one at the right side of his stomach and another at the left half of his forehead, "Oh, I think I'm going to be sick." Rand covered his mouth with one hand and looked a hair's breath away from heaving his dinner. Moon Knight, Echo and Matt (of course) just watched.

"This good enough?" He looked up at Moon Knight with a glare, which must've looked even worse considering his bloody state.

"It is adequate." He took the knife back and turned his attention to Echo, "Help Spider-Man sneak into the cargo container. No deaths; we cannot risk any suspicion falling to us."

Echo nodded and offered him a hand. Peter stared blankly at the offered limb before he sneered and turned invisible. He might've looked like a kid now but he was still Spider-Man, damn it.


Private Message:

FlowersForAll: FriendlyNeighborhoodSpiderWoman, we'd like to sincerely thank you again for visiting our Joey at the hospital two weeks ago. He was so happy he got to meet with his hero.

FriendlyNeighborhoodSpiderWoman: Oh hey! :) Yeah it was really cool to hang out with him. When can I visit him next? I want to congratulate him on his treatment and show him that mask I got him! I had a friend of mine help me with it ;)

FlowersForAll: I'm afraid that's not possible. There were complications with the next batch of surgery a couple of days ago and he...

FriendlyNeighborhoodSpiderWoman: Oh...I am so sorry. Things were going so well last time and I thought that...

FlowersForAll: Yes, it was a surprise to us too. It...I know I'm asking for a lot, but we're going to be having a funeral and we were hoping that you could attend. We'll understand if that's not possible, of course.

FriendlyNeighborhoodSpiderWoman: I'm definitely coming. Just message me the date and time and I'll be there, you have my word.

FlowersForAll: Thank you. Again I know we're asking for a lot but we promised him you'd come visit again after the surgery and I thought that this would be the least we could do.

FriendlyNeighborhoodSpiderWoman: I understand. Don't worry, Mrs. Sanchez, I'll be there.


Norah scooted back on her chair and yawned, rubbing her eyes idly with one hand. Another day and another scoop that left her feeling like the overworked intern. Not that she was complaining, mind you. Robbie gave her mostly free reign once he figured out that she could get scoops and didn't kill anyone...directly. Self-defense was self-defense and she'd been on the firing range a lot.

It'd been a day since Ben went undercover and so far things had been pretty slow. She didn't even get a chance to make fun of him cause of how serious the call was...

"Here." Gabe put a cup of coffee on the table and and smiled shyly.

"Thanks." Norah smiled back and took a sip of the caffeinated goodness. She still kinda felt guilty having the kid around her so much. Most teenagers were out having fun with friends, breaking the rules and whatever, not cooped up in a journalist's apartment researching ancient ninjas and crime rings. Least she could give the kid a glowing recommendation on any resume he had.

"Any luck on your end? I've been hitting dead ends?"

"Nah." She gestured to the screen, "Rumors and whispers, but nothing concrete. My guys on the street are pretty tight lipped too. Something's got them scared." Not that that was hard to do. Druggies and bums knew a lot but they weren't exactly willing to put their neck out most of the time.

"Yeah, me either. Eugene's been looking around too but he hasn't gotten anything."

"Oh really? Such a shock there." She snorted and rolled her eyes. It wasn't that she hated Frog-Man or anything, but the guy was pretty damn annoying at the best of times. She didn't worry too much about him. Anyone with half a brain would figure he was harmless (useless) enough and wouldn't bother going after him. She worried about Gabe, though.

"Yeah..." He rubbed the back of his head and shifted his feet awkwardly, "So...d'you mind if I ask for some advice?"

"Sure. Something with 'work'?"

"Um...no, it's actually personal."

"Oooh, is it about that crush you have on Lana?" The tan teenager's cheeks turned red and Norah grinned, "Yup, I know about that. I see all and know all." That and Lana mentioned it off-hand a while ago, but Gabe didn't need to know that.

"Y-Yeah- actually, it's kinda half in half." He sat down across her and lifted Benjamin to his lap, "Aracely kinda made things awkward when she just...blurted out all of our secrets." Lana told her about that too. It was how she found out Gabe and apparently MVP liked her. She took it rather well, all things considered, "So she told everyone that I liked Lana but then she also said that..."

"That Sue Storm liked you." If she was as morally bankrupt as Katzenburg she would've been through the moon. She could see the headlines now - 'America's Sweetheart likes former drug dealer'. Tabloids and fansites would've eaten that crap up, "Thought you'd be thrilled. Fanboys would kill to be where you're at."

"I dunno. I mean Sue's really pretty and she's a good person, but...we haven't really talked about it since Aracely brought it up. We still hang out and all but there's this...awkward feeling in the air, you know? The only one who don't act like anything's weird are Lana and Aracely."

"To be fair Lana did have to go through the mess that was last year. Pretty sure finding out your friend had a crush on you is pretty low on the things that'll shock you." Not to mention she had(?) a crush on a guy who slept with her mom, but she didn't tell Gabe that.

"I guess. I dunno, I just...I wanna get rid of that awkward feeling in the air. I miss just hanging out and having fun again."

"You can't rush these things. Trust me, I've been there and if you try to push too hard you'll end up going over the edge. Just take it slow and talk about it when you're all ready." She smiled and took Benjamin from his lap, "Now, if you'll excuse me I've gotta go shopping. Benjamin's particularly picky about his kibble and you do not want to see him when he pouts."

The nearby 24 hour mall (courtesy of Tony Stark, cause of course it was) was an all too familiar haunt. She grabbed one of the red baskets and Benjamin immediately took step beside her, "Meet you at the usual spot?" He barked happily then skidded off to the pet food section. Norah had already given up trying to figure out why he was so damn smart and well trained considering his last owner was Ben.

She was in the middle of picking out some new easy-bake meals when he came trotting back with a bag of kibble his mouth. He nudged it over the basket and looked up at her with his trademark puppy dog eyes, "I don't like that look you're giving me." He zipped out and came back with another, far more expensive brand. And more puppy dog eyes.

"Geez, Benjy, you think I'm made of money or something?" He whimpered and looked like he was about to cry. She sighed and tossed it into the basket, "We really gotta get your dad to pay child support." He barked happily and took the basket by his teeth when she put the last of her groceries in. They both made their way to the cashier, who was not at all surprised to see a dog nudging a basket and then a wallet onto the counter.

She was barely out of the store when her phone rang. An unknown number, "Hello?"

"Norah Winters." Her grip on the phone tightened at the sound of the digitized voice. Never a good sign, "You've been looking into our dealings."

"You're gonna have to be a bit more specific there Mr. Voicechanger. I butt into a lot of people's business, it's kind of my thing." She already hit the SOS button on her spare phone and started walking again. Had to buy time.

"You get one warning: Back off. We won't ask a second time."

"Aww, and here I was hoping we could get to know each other better. I like to get personal with the people threatening me."

The call ended. Norah looked down at the empty screen and sneered. This was just what she needed... "Hey, Gabe? Yeah, I gotta go away for a few. Yeah, you know what. Be careful, okay?" She shut off her phone and started making her way to Frank's nearest safehouse. Best thing to do was hole herself up for a bit then call the others.

It didn't take long for her to see the person behind her. He stuck out like a sore thumb - finely pressed blue suit, slicked back hair and shoes that barely had any stains...definitely not someone who spent a lot of time in the Kitchen. He kept pace with her easily and as the seconds ticked by he got closer and closer.

She ran as soon as she rounded the corner with Benjamin following. The guy immediately ran after her and she dropped some pellets behind her. The small, metal capsules hissed before expelling a thick plume of smoke, "Woah!" Bullets whizzed by her head and she took the revolver out of her bag. As soon as she caught a hint of blue she pulled the trigger twice and kept running.

More bullets came from the left. Benjamin yelped and she barely managed to duck into the alley before more bullets came. She counted at least two more suited hitmen chasing after her, "Seriously? All this just for me? I'm flattered!" She shouted back.

Three more goons came out on the other side of the alley before a red blur took them out. Must've been MJ. She barely had time to scream out a 'thanks!' before she crashed through the side door and ran down the stairs, "Come on, come on..." She yanked the keypad's lock away and input the code as quick as she could, "Damn it Frank, did you have to make these so damn long?!"

The door opened with a click and a gunshot rang out. The hitman behind her fell down the stairs with a hole through his head while in front of her...

"Frank?"

Frank Castle - The Punisher - lowered his pistol and looked down at her. He didn't look all that different from when she saw him last. Same skull shirt, same messy beard and same scowl. Only thing that caught her eye were the new scars dotted across his face.

"Getting into trouble again."

"Look who's talking." Despite how quick her heart was beating she pushed him back inside and locked the door behind her once Benjamin was in. MJ could deal with the rest outside, "Didn't realize you were even back in town." In all honesty she didn't think she'd ever actually see him again. From all appearances it looked like he was set to making Mexico his new permanent haunt.

"Wasn't advertising."

"Right...so, why are you here? Thought you were in Mexico?"

"Murdock called me." Well...that wasn't what she expected to hear, "Thought about coming back just to kill him, but he made a decent enough argument. I have bigger targets to focus on than a collared ex-lawyer. Like the people you're searching for."

Right...something told her the Punisher's comeback wasn't going to end well.


ArkT: Spider-Man's been MIA for a couple of days now. Is he really that bummed about the breakup?

Noisy-Cricket: Must be. I mean I'd be pretty bummed if I broke up with Spider-Woman.

SpiderGod766: Bet he's really regretting it.

ThatGeekyGuy: Why's everyone assuming it's cause of the breakup? He was active before he and Spider-Woman got together and he and the Defenders raided that building a couple of days. Maybe he's off doing hero shit like he usually does?

Lolrus555: But he broke up with Spider-Woman! That must mean everything he does now is defined by that breakup! /s

Brave2000: Yeah i gotta agree. He and Spider-Woman broke up so what? A lot of people break up and most of em don't let it get to them that much. Ya'll acting like its the end of the world. So dumb.

JediRecall: I'm more worried about how dangerous he'll be. It was pretty obvious that Spider-Woman kept him on a leash. Now that he's gone what the fucks he gonna start doing?

Lolrus555: A leash? Dude killed a fuckload of ninjas and put down a down in Times Square. And you must've seen some of the pics of him fighting that warlord in South Africa. If she kept him on a leash it was a shitty one.

ThatGeekyGuy: Yeah anyone who says Spider-Woman was keeping him tied down is talking out of their ass. Dude's a killer.


She was so bored.

Laura looked up at the ceiling and swung her legs idly. Shadowcat had taken her to visit Wasp both for her daily check up (they needed to make sure the code phrases were still suppressed) and because Shadowcat did the occasional job for the Dr. Superhero. Shadowcat never told her what the jobs were and she didn't ask. She just assumed there was a lot of blood involved.

Right now she was outside while Shadowcat and Wasp talked. Hope was still at school so now she was just bored again. She wished Peach and Spot were here, "Bored..." She finally stood and wandered around aimlessly. Dad, Felicity and Gene had already gone back and she already missed them. Why couldn't the stupid man with the red skull die already so her dad could stay here?

Sighing for the hundredth time that hour, she made her way to Hope's room and and smiled when she caught the familiar scents inside. Hope's room always felt different than the other places. Wasp's labs always felt so cold and sterile - just like the facility there the monsters tortured her. Hope's room felt comfy.

She jumped on the bed and heard a loud squeak. Her head snapped to the source of the voice and something whizzed by her, "Laura!" She blinked at the three inch tall Hope flying in front of her, "What are you doing here?"

"Shadowcat is visiting and she took me along." Hope's shrunken state didn't surprise her. She did it often and with great enjoyment in order to fly, "I thought you were at school?"

"We got suspended cause of something the teacher did, but I didn't wanna tell mom." She looked around conspiratorially (a word they taught her at school) and flew in closer. Laura had to cross her eyes to see the grin on her face, "Mom's hiding something! Gwen and the others were here and I bet she made the new baby, but mom wouldn't let me see it even after I promised to be careful!"

"A baby?" Laura looked at her with interest. He found infants fascinating, if only because they were so different from everything else. All her life she'd grown up surrounded by adults, many of whom wished to hurt her and she was bred to kill. Even Shadowcat acted far older than her 19 years. Babies were innocent. They cried and demanded and acted spoiled, but they didn't have malice.

"Yeah! Well, not like you and me were, but still a baby!"

"What do you wish to do?"

"I wanna see it, duh!" She rolled her eyes exaggeratedly, "Mom won't let us in if we just ask her so I'll sneak us inside. We can totally be in and out before she sees a thing!"

"Let's do it then." Laura nodded.

A few minutes later both she and Hope were shrunk to under a few inches in height and with her best friend carrying her by the armpits through one of the vents, "Mom said we're only supposed to use the vents in case of an emergency, so don't tell her anything!" Laura hummed, "I wonder what Gwen's baby is like. She said she was already talking!"

"Already?"

"Yeah, apparently symbiotes learn to talk super fast!" Symbiote? Like the one the hooded Spider wore? Odd, she didn't know they made babies, "Gwen said it was nice so I really wanna talk to it. They even said they were looking for a partner for it like Gwen and Webster are."

The room wasn't empty when they got there. There was a man there dressed head to toe in a black, airtight suit standing in front of the baby's enclosure. Hope re-grew them and they hid behind a nearby cabinet, "Who is that?" Lana whispered. Hope shook her head and didn't say a word, but she was obviously scared by the sudden intruder, "Bad guy?"

"I think so..."

Laura narrowed her eyes looked to the camera on the wall. Hope likely hadn't even considered the idea of getting caught, but the man's confidence indicated he was either similarly short-sighted or he'd already dealt with it beforehand, "Oooh, come to papa!" He started reaching for the retreating pink blob. Laura unsheathed her claws - the first time she'd done so in almost a year - and stalked closer to her target.

Down the line she'd blame what happened next on dulled instincts. Shadowcat had ensured she had no need to fight for the past year, almost violently so. 'You deserve a chance to be a kid. You still wanna be fucked up and kill people when you're older, fine, but we'll deal with that later', she said. And so her training had rusted to the back of her mind. She still remembered, yes, but lack of practice made it difficult to fall back to old habits.

And so she didn't even realize the hint of her reflection on the glass encasing before it was too late.

Laura slashed at his right leg to disable him. He suddenly shrunk out of sight and her claws only hit air. Before she could double back he re-grew to his previous size and uppercutted her in the jaw, "Almost got me there!" She growled and slashed at him again, and again he shrunk out of sight before suddenly appearing behind her. Laura spun around to kick and he shrunk to just an inch below the attack's arc.

His next punch sent her reeling to the table. Laura crashed against the enclosure and it fell to the ground with a loud impact. An alarm immediately blared out and he sighed, "Great, see what you gone and did? You got any idea how long I've been planning for this? The bossman ain't gonna be happy-"

Hope flew at his back and tackled him. He stumbled forward slightly, which gave Laura a chance to cut his throat and stab him in the stomach. Despite his injuries he shrunk once more and when Laura looked around she found no trace of him. She sniffed the air and frowned. The trail of blood led to the vents and ended there.

The door opened and both Shadowcat and Wasp charged in, claws and weapons raised, only to stop when they saw their states. Hope was hugging Laura tightly and asking if she was alright while she could only pat her back and reassure her. Mostly she felt embarrassed. She knew she hadn't fought in a while but to think she'd been so clumsy. If she'd been fighting against the machine men they would have done far worse than a couple of hits.

Hope frantically explained the situation to her mother while Shadowcat simply sighed, "I leave you alone for 15 minutes and you already get into trouble."

"I got that from you." Laura beamed up at her. Shadowcat didn't scold her, not really. In the year they've spent together she complained and they argued but one thing she was adamant about was that she wasn't her mother. They were sisters, and that meant she wouldn't mother her.

"Yeah, sure, be cute. Just wait till Cin and Petey hear about this." She grinned evilly.

"But-"

"No buts. Now lets get yours back home before you somehow manage to blow this whole place up."

Laura grumbled and pouted as she followed Shadowcat outside. She didn't even realize the pink blob that stuck to her back and sunk into her skin before it was already gone.


rc48177: Spinerette I know you get asked this a lot, but what are the actual chances of you ending up with Spider-Man? A lot of people are really curious since you two seem to be good friends.

TheRedGhost22: Dude what makes you think she's gonna reply to that?

rc48177: Couldn't hurt to ask.

Spinerette: I've said it once and I'll say it again - less than ZERO. He's like a little brother to me. And I mean that literally since he's like ten years younger than I am. Why can't people be friends without everyone prying into it? Is this dimension just obsessed with people's love lives?

ToastyIce: To be fair you guys seemed really close and similar. Made more sense than him and Spider-Woman.

Spinerette: Since when are relationships sensible or how similar people are? My old boyfriend didn't like old comic books or video games like me but we got along great. He and Spider-Woman had their fights but there was something there.

Eragen: Emphasis on was considering their explosive breakup.

Spinerette: Doesn't mean I'm suddenly gonna be a cougar. I'm pushing 30 guys, I'm not gonna go after someone who isn't even old enough to drink.

AlexTheSouthParkGhostRider: So what's your type then? ;)

Spinerette: Not you.

ToastyIce: Lol rekt.


The scene with Laura and the symbiote was originally going to be different. In the first plan she and the symbiote would've talked and Laura eventually agreed to sneak it out after seeing how lonely it was. I took this out since I couldn't figure out a way for Laura to sneak it without getting caught by cameras. Having an intruder and it latching on in the panic solved that problem.

So yeah, Laura won the symbiote poll :/ My original choice was going to be that it attached to Helena during a dangerous situation, meaning it'd be a unique entity since the baby and the symbiote would've grown up together from almost birth. That and you'd have no idea of the family relation since it's Gwen's stepsister bonded with her technical baby. Oh well, maybe Laura can be good too.

Anyway so now we have Noir undercover in one of the Hand's indoctrination facilities, Norah running into a newly returned Punisher and Laura having unknowingly bonded to Pink Charlie Chocolate.

Questions:

1. Do you guys want to keep MJ's segments as dark as they currently are or do we have it become lighter? She kinda ping pongs between the two dependent on whether she's alone or hanging out with other more lighthearted characters like Gwen or (later on) Frog-Man and Kate.

2. I'm curious, would you guys have kept reading if I didn't take user reviews into account and didn't pair Gwen and Noir/paired Noir off with Norah instead/pairing Gwen with Kate instead?

3. How did you guys feel about Original Noir and Shadowcat back in V1? Cause originally he and Cindy were going to be partners and Shadowcat and Laura were non-entities. Wonder if that would've been better or worse.

Review Answers:

JediRecall - No, Noir was never in the running as a host given that he can't attach to symbiotes. Also, Matt actually gave MJ a new confidant that might be able to help her; he just went about it poorly.

rc48177 - Remember that we almost didn't get Moon Knight since the vote for the fourth Defender was either him, Danny or Luke Cage. Crazy Moon Man won in the end, though.

Brave2000 - Peter SHOT Matt in this chapter, so yeah it's a running thing.

Lolrus555: Again, apologies for any offense for the way your username might act. It's not an attack, I'm just too lazy to look up names.

usernamesarebullshit: Cindy is the sort of link since more often than not she functions as the compromise when it comes to heroes and anti-heroes. Still, she seems to lean towards the anti-hero side nowadays.

ThatGeekyGuy - Laura won, so nothing we can do about that. As for the characters being snappy, I figured that made sense considering the stuff they're dealing with. They're pretty nice to each other and those who aren't threatening them.

AlexTheSouthParkGhostRider - Something tells me Noir's not the type to let being de-aged stop him from doing his thing.