Sorry for the delays. Thesis, work and the occasional gaming have taken up a lot of my time. That and my new fic as well. Hopefully the next update won't be as long.
Read the new Noir ongoing and I'm currently awaiting the upcoming Silk one. Hope it's good. As before twitter segments in italics are made by Nerdman3000 while non-italicized ones are from me. Hopefully they're both fun :)
Side note - hopefully the first segment can still pass for a T rating. If not I'll change it.
EvelynRichards: Dear TheAvengers and FriendlyNeighborhoodSpiderWoman. My name is Evelyn Richards and I need your help. My son, Reed, has been missing for over a year. The police haven't been able to help me, and I was starting to lose hope, until I heard Spinerette mention that in her world my son is some kind of superhero.
Reply from FriendlyNeighborhoodSpiderWoman: Can you tell us what you know about your son Reed's disappearance?
Reply from EvelynRichards: Oh thank god you responded! As for your question, a little more than year or two ago, not long before Spider-Man showed up for the first time, a strange came out of this portal in my living room and offered my son to join something he called 'The Council of Reeds'. My son...he just accepted the man's offer and went with him through the portal and he hasn't returned since!
Reply from FriendlyNeighborhoodSpiderWoman: Your son...just left with a man through a portal?
Reply from EvelynRichards: Yes! Please I'm telling the truth! No one believes me when I tell them and thinks he must have run away, but I know what I saw! Please believe me!
Reply from FriendlyNeighborhoodSpiderWoman: I believe you ma'am. Trust me, I've seen and heard crazier stuff. Anyways, I'll see what I can do. I will try to find your son, I promise.
Reply from EvelynRichards: Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Please find him and bring him home!
Reply from GPool: I always did wonder what happened to this story's Reed Richards, considering his role in the original Spider-Gwen comic. Never expected him to join the Council of Reeds though! I guess they were impressed by him making all that dimensional travel shit out of Lego's.
Reply from EvelynRichards: I'm sorry, what?
Reply from FriendlyNeighborhoodSpiderWoman: Not you again! Ugh! Didn't I block you? EvelynRichards, please ignore Gwenpoole. She's a known troll I've had to deal with who thinks I'm Gwen Stacy. Can't ever seem to block her.
Reply from GPool: Your just jealous cause I can break the 4th Wall. :P :D ;)
Gwen wasn't a stranger to the occasional act of rebellion. Sneaking into clubs, using fake ID's to get drinks or even partaking in the occasional hit of the mary jane (often alongside Mary Jane). Sure she loved her dad, but he wasn't used to raising a daughter alone and compensated the best way he could - rules, rules and more rules. He did his best. Being a police officer wasn't good training for being a single dad.
Still, it did mean that her teenage rebellion years started early. The first time she'd taken a sip of beer was when she was 15 and some old talkshow host decided she was fair game to make fun of to make a comeback; which failed considering the last time she saw him he was selling used cars. And there was the whole Spider-Woman thing to begin with. Even before she got accused of murdering Peter her dad disapproved. It made her feel bad, but a part of her felt giddy sneaking behind the police chief's back.
And then it all turned to shit.
"Ooh, this one's got some moves, gents!"
Still, none of her acts of rebellion could hold a handle to what she was doing now. Gwen held back the rising bile in her throat and spun around almost gracefully on the pole. All around her she saw cheering men, all of them leering and looking at her like she was just a piece of meat. It made her sick, especially since she knew it wasn't the first time. As much as Betty made jokes about it Gwen never found it funny knowing people were jacking off to Spider-Woman. That for all the things she did, all the bullshit she had to go through, for some people she was just wank material.
Seeing it up close didn't do anything to improve that opinion. Gwen arched her back and made sure her butt stuck out close to the edge of the stage, 'I'm going to kill Cindy when I get out of here.' She grit her teeth and forced a smile before smacking said butt with a loud slap. The clothes (if they could even be called that) Webster made for her left little to the imagination - a bra that left the top of her (transformed) boobs popping out, panties that rode up her butt and high heels that looked and felt like torture devices. Even in some of her raunchier fantasies (which Webster complained messed up her sleep cycle) she'd never dream of wearing something like this.
Peter wearing something like it, on the other hand...
'Just think of Peter. It will make it easier.'
'Considering he's 7 years old right now? Not really.' She spun again on the pole and flipped upside down, holding herself up by her legs. That got a few more drunken jeers and some money thrown her way. Gwen winked at a particularly drunken patron close to the stage and grinded against the pole after righting herself again. That got her a few more dollars thrown her way.
A minute more and her 'dance' finally ended. Gwen stuffed the money in the waistband of her undies (money never felt more gross) and passed by MJ on the stage, "Good luck," she whispered. The fake brunette gave her a nod and a small wink. According to what Jess dug up the guy liked brunettes so they'd changed accordingly. MJ's hair was completely black while Gwen shifted to a lighter shade of brown that reminded her of May in her younger days.
She went to the changing room and practically collapsed on the closest chair, not even bothering to take the bills off. She'd only danced for about 15 minutes but already she felt exhausted, "Nice moves out there." Gwen cracked an eye open and looked to the source of the voice. She was tan (and it actually looked natural, surprise surprise) with dark brown hair and red lingerie that was only slightly less scandalous than what Gwen wore. She looked maybe a couple of years older than she was.
"Uh...thanks. Had a few ballet classes back when I was a kid." A lie, but She-Hulk did suggest she take lessons. Either that or breakdancing. Either one could help her come up with new moves better than watching Meals on Wheels for the dozenth time, "Name's Traci. With an I." Her fake stripper name. MJ went with Jade for some reason.
"Sapphire. You new?"
"Yeah. That obvious?" Gwen cracked a small smile. She seemed friendly enough.
"Kinda. You've still got bills on your thong." Gwen shuffled awkwardly and took said bills out, "Don't worry, newbie, you get used to it. Owner's pretty decent here and you can usually make enough in a couple years to move on to greener pastures."
"Yeah...uh, sorry but I gotta ask. Why are you..."
"Law school's expensive." She grinned at that, and Gwen was just so happy to see someone not leering at her that she grinned back, "I figured it was either this or spending the next decade paying off school loans."
"A lawyer? After what happened to that Murdock guy you sure?"
"Ugh, don't even talk to me about that." She rolled her eyes and sighed, "Ever since that prick got outed you wouldn't believe the amount of 'Lawyers go to hell' jokes I've had to deal with. 7 years studying your ass off and the first thing people do is call you a lying parasite. But of course when someone needs help in court suddenly they forget all about being so judgy."
"It is what it is." Gwen shrugged. She didn't hate lawyers, not really. Sure Murdock soured her on them somewhat - and growing up with her dad led to all too many horror stories on lawyers who got criminals off on technicalities - but she knew not to judge wholesale. She'd ran into her fair share of corrupt and power tripping cops the past three years but that didn't mean all cops were that bad.
Though she still held a grudge on that guy who said he'd let her go for a 'little something something' while looking at her ass. Really should've gotten his name...
"So..." Gwen started, making sure she sounded clueless and nervous, "I heard, like, there are criminals here."
Sapphire raised a brow, "Not so sure about that. Why?"
"Uh, cause I don't wanna get shot? I got a little brother to worry about!" she huffed, crossing her arms and pouting. Ugh, this was killing her, "I mean I'll dance or whatever but if someone asks me to put a gun to my head so they can get off I'm out. Ain't doing that shit again."
"Again? That's a story I'm gonna need to hear more off." Sapphire shook her head, "Look you don't have to worry. The boss here's pretty particular about that business staying out of the club. Uh...you do know what the private dances are, right?"
"Yep. I'm careful, not stupid." Gwen rolled her eyes exaggeratedly, "Again I just don't wanna get shot. There are some sickos out there and I don't care how much dough they're flashin', it ain't worth the hospital bills."
They spent the the next quarter of an hour talking. Sapphire - whose real name was Kirsten McDuffie, according to her slip - was a decent conversationalist. It helped that she hated Murdock too and Gwen was all about that. Fuck Murdock and fuck him weaseling his way to hanging around Peter and MJ. Guy was worse than a cockroach on steroids.
Eventually Sapphire got called back and MJ strolled back n. Gwen met up with her and they walked to a corner out of sight of the other women, "How'd it go?" she whispered.
"About what you'd expect." MJ shrugged, face impassive "Pretty weird to get cheered on for my boobs but it's not like it's the first time some horny old pervert wanted to get his rocks off." Gwen sighed in agreement. It was pretty rare, but there was the occasional time some pervo came to their concerts just to check out the rock band with a pretty redhead front and center. MJ mostly tried to ignore it when Betty told her.
"Think we made enough of an impression?"
"I think so. I saw the guy we're after and he was definitely rocking something." How could MJ be so damn cool about this? Then again, the grim part of her mind whispered, it's not like it's the worst thing MJ's done the past couple of weeks, "I still don't get what we're supposed to do here. Do she expect us to give him such an amazing blowjob he'll literally spill everything?"
"No. Remember what Cindy said: we get close enough to him and we put a tracker somewhere he can't see." Gwen raised her right hand and let a clump of biomass shift on her palm, "After that we follow him around and see if we can track him back to where he and his bosses are keeping those fancy guns." Thankfully they only had to get close to him once. Not so thankfully she'd probably have nightmares over this.
More than anything she hated how everyone around her reacted, especially her dad and Peter. Ever since she told them about her plans to, ugh, seduce Roxxon to outing himself they'd been tense. Peter hated the idea of that bastard getting so close to her and her dad...hoo boy, he already had his issues with her dating Peter. Roxxon nearly made him explode.
The only saving grace was that Peter didn't (openly) show just how disgusted he was at the thought of it. It wasn't cheating - they both knew that - but she still felt sick thinking about it. The only saving grace was that Webster promised she'd take control if and when something ever happened and that she wouldn't feel a thing.
'I have your back, Gwen. Always.'
'Same here.' Gwen smiled slightly and leaned against the wall, arms crossed, "So...how'd you like dancing?" she smiled crookedly.
"Easier since I have Crimson with me." She tilted her head slightly, "Oof, it's not a fan. You're lucky your tagalong isn't as whiny as mine is." She always called hers 'it', Gwen noticed, She wasn't surprised, especially after everything it did to her. She was honestly surprised they two of them managed to...well, not get along, but avoid trying to kill each other. It that was even possible.
'It is, but Mary Jane would be left in a horrible state afterwards. Symbiosis is the key to their salvation.
'Sounds like a game tagline.'
The rest of the day was spent with more the safe. Dances, breaks, dances, breaks and more dances. By the time Gwen was done she could practically fill a jar with the amount of dollars tossed her way and enough leering eyes that she felt like one of those way too expensive figurines. She swore to herself that she'd put every single dollar to charity as soon as she was out of here.
"Where'd you get moves like that? They really teach that in ballet?" Sapphire whispered, impressed.
"You'd be surprised." Gwen grinned weakly and was about to make another joke when she got a tap on her shoulder, "Oh, hey, Jade. What's-"
"Can I talk to you? Alone?"
"Uh...sure." The both of them went to that same corner from before, "Something wrong?"
"That guy just asked for a private dance." Gwen's eyes hardened. So soon? Cindy thought they'd need at least a couple more days to make an impression, "I'm gonna go in there now. I'll put a tracker on this guy then we can meet up outside."
"Got it. Be careful, okay?"
"I think he has more to worry about that I do." She grinned, flashing teeth that were monstrously sharp before quickly turning back to normal. That was the other side of her newfound confidence. As much Gwen loved getting the old Mary Jane back seeing her so lax at the idea of hurting someone was never going to stop being disturbing. It reminded her just a bit too much of Shadowcat to her liking.
Mary Jane turned to leave and Gwen grabbed her wrist, "Hey..." Mary Jane looked back at her curiously, "You're not going to kill this guy...right?" She knew she promised she'd change things to make her and Peter want to stop killing people but she couldn't just turn off her hesitation. It wasn't that easy.
"Cindy wants him and his buddies arrested," Mary Jane said coolly. Gwen still didn't let go, "Look, what do you want from me? I promise I won't hurt him any more than I need to. Don't forget that these guys are terrorists. If he tries something then I'm hitting back."
"That's not what I..." Gwen sighed and let her go, "Sorry for being weird. Just...I'm still trying to get used to this whole thing you have now."
"It took you a couple of months to get used to Tiger. I can wait." Mary Jane grinned wryly and sauntered out of the room like she wasn't wearing a thong and high heels. Gwen sighed and collapsed onto a chair, ignoring Sapphire's worried looks. This was mess. Being a hero was hard, but it was a fuckton better than playing sexytime stripper so a bunch of guys could jerk off to her ass.
Her already short break was cut painfully short when the same bouncer from before tapped her shoulder. Gwen looked up just as he jerked his thumb, "Someone called you out for a private dance."
"Wh-What do you- I mean, already?" She forced herself not to shout something obscene. She'd been so busy thinking about Cindy's target that she forgot that anyone else could request her.
"Yeah, you're a real crowd pleaser." He grunted, obviously not a fan of talking more than necessary, "Just go before the boss gets mad. Room with the number 4 in the back."
"Got it." Well, she'd have to play the part. With any luck MJ'd get the guy and put the tracker on him before she had to do anything she'd definitely regret, 'Tell me if you wish to relinquish control, Gwen. I have watched enough dances on television to know how to mimic it.'
'Thanks, Webs.'
She opened the door and froze when she saw the guy lying back spread eagle on the couch with a giant grin on his face. She expected anyone - some horny college student, a perverted old man- hell, even the police chief.
Anyone but that fucker Bullseye.
"Hey there, girlie." He eyed er up and down with a dangerous leer. For a second she wondered if he knew who she was before she saw the bulge in his pants. Yeah, definitely not. The psychopath hated her, "Saw your moves out there and I'm a fan. Hope your solo moves don't disappoint."
"Oh, I think you'll be satisfied." She forced herself to grin even if she was screaming inside. What in the hell was that zombie bastard doing here? "Any song you like?"
"I'll let you pick that one."
She pressed the remote to start a random song and started a routine. Webster took over most of the movement while Gwen was stuck in her thoughts. It didn't look like he knew who she was - and if he did then she'd have a lot of questions for Cindy - but that didn't do much to make her feel better. Right now the guy she was grinding up against was the one who hurt Peter, put Lana in the hospital and killed God only knew how many other people.
"I'm going to kill every single one of the Hand starting with Bullseye."
She turned away from him and the fingers on her right hand briefly shifted to claws. She could end him here right now. Just turn around and cut his throat open. He already died once so would it even count?
'Gwen?'
'...Damn it.' She willed her hand back to normal before Webster twisted them around and practically shoved her boobs into the guy's face. She was only delaying the inevitable. Peter was going to kill him as soon as he got his hands on him and Gwen couldn't change that. Still, she couldn't do it. She'd killed in a fight if she had to - that kaiju definitely wasn't breathing when they were done - but she couldn't play assassin and cut a guy's throat while he was getting a lapdance.
Still, that didn't mean she'd just let him off. Gwen pressed herself hard against him and, after making sure he wasn't looking, tossed a bit of biomass to the back of his leather trenchcoat (seriously?), "Wooh, someone's eager." He liked his lips while she winked (kill her now) and went down to a kneeling position. She couldn't put it off any longer and the faster he got out of here the faster she could track down his friends and kick their teeth in. Just cause she didn't want to kill them didn't mean jail was off the menu.
Her heart jumped into her throat when she placed a hand on his thigh. He was hard, that much was obvious, and judging by the look on his face she knew exactly what he wanted her to do about it. Gwen gulped audibly and resisted the urge to gag. It wasn't the first time she'd gone down on someone, or the other way around (Peter was unsurprisingly good with his hands and mouth), but knowing it was that sick bastard made her feel ill.
She put traced a hand across the zipper and forced a smirk, "Looks like someone's packing heat." Ugh, kill her with a spoon. The tattooed psychopath smirked and leaned back with his eyes closed. Again she was almost tempted to cut his throat. He would've deserved it, right? 'No, god damn it.' Shaking her head, she grit her teeth and began the slow process of pulling the zipper down-
A sudden vibration jolted them both out of the sick display. Bullseye sighed, loud and annoyed, and pulled out his phone, "Yeah? Wait, right now? Seriously? I'm just- no, you don't gotta pull on the leash again. I'll play ball." He sighed again and put the phone back, "Sorry, darling, looks like I'm busy."
"Aww, you were my first gig." She pouted, even though she was mentally screaming in relief inside.
"I know, but you know what bosses are like. Tug you around like you're a dog on a leash." She had the feeling that was more literal for him than other people, "Tell you what, I'll come back and request you again next time huh?"
"Sure." She smiled and, as soon as she was out of sight, promptly grabbed the bottle of complimentary booze and chugged the entire thing. Her non-existent alcohol tolerance kicked in and she her vision swam, but she held it in, "God damn it..." She slammed the bottle down and it shattered into little pieces. She didn't even bother to look guilty and just stomped out.
She got into an abandoned room and, after making sure there weren't any cameras around, pulled her phone out of her 'pocket' and gave a quick text to MJ, 'Bullseye asshole's here. Gonna track him. Hold the fort for a bit.' She jumped out of the window, shifting into her costume mid-arc, and ran up the roof of the opposite building. Even the stench of garbage in the alley below felt like a breath of fresh air.
'Webster, you got him?'
'Yes, he's not too far away. Are you sure we should be doing this? Mary Jane-'
'I won't be long. We can't let this fucker get away.'
It didn't take her long to track him down to the rest of his buddies. Gwen leaned over the edge of a rooftop and narrowed her eyes at the parking lot below. There was Bullseye, a bunch of guys in suits and an old Chinese lady - probably that Gao woman - on one side while on the other were men wearing dark formal wear and green scorpion masks.
She couldn't make out what they were saying, but the crates full of weapons and something else she couldn't place didn't look good. Time to bust some heads.
Gwen swung down and webbed on the scorpion thugs in the face, "Hey, hope you don't mind me crashing the party!" She yanked the pistol away from the closest gunman and smacked him in the face with it. Everyone around her scrambled, either moving to fight her or trying to get the merchandise.
She kicked a triad goon to the ground and flipped over the knife aimed at her spine, "You weren't the Spider I was expecting." Bullseye grinned. Just past him she saw a couple of guys in suits rushing Gao out back to her car. She aimed a web past him and he cut it mid-flight, "Ah, ah, ah! We're the ones fighting here! Come on, I'll send your head back to Petey in a bag. Be a nice present!"
'Seriously?' She dodged his next knives and kicked behind her at the charging goon, "One at a time, fellas! Girl can only do so much!" She flipped over another goon and webbed his hands to make him punch himself. Bullseye threw two more knives and she tossed the guy to a nearby car before webbing him to the surface. It'd hurt, but it was better than getting stabbed in the neck.
"Still a little goody blue shoes, huh?" He sneered.
"And you're still crazy pants." She took out the last goon and swung over to him. That Gao lady was gone, but she could deal with that later. Gwen rolled to avoid the next thrown blades and landed in front of him. He tried to stab her gut and she grabbed his wrist before it could make contact, "Not this time." She tightened her grip till she heard a painful crack and he dropped the blade. The same one Peter had a year ago before he left.
She kicked it to the side and blocked his other hand then forced him to kneel on the ground. His face knotted in pain and, after a few seconds, he suddenly rose up and headbutted her. She didn't even feel it, "Heh, still as strong as ever." She forced him back on his knees. She could've webbed him down or knocked him out, but she wanted him to hurt.
"You're going to pay for what you did to Peter and Lana."
"Hah...you thought that was bad? You ain't seen nothin' yet!"
He flicked his left hand and she heard a hissing behind her. Gwen punched him to the ground and webbed him down before turning around to a pierced canister. What the hell did he throw? She didn't get a chance to question before a white, slimy thing oozed out of the small hole and, before she could do anything, suddenly lunged towards her.
It felt just like when Webster bonded to her over a year ago, except this time she felt herself getting weaker, 'Gwen! It's trying to separate us! It's-' Webster's voice suddenly dropped off. Gwen was forced on her knees and tried in vain to grab the white blob and pry it off her. It got everywhere starting from her stomach till it covered her arms, legs and head. She couldn't breath, could barely keep her eyes open.
Just before everything went black she saw an arrow embed itself on the ground.
It was quickly followed by the most earsplitting shriek she'd ever heard. Gwen's eyes shot open and, after a bit more fumbling, she managed to pry the blob off of her, 'Now, Gwen!' She tossed it to the ground, transformed her right hand into a blade and stabbed it clean through the center. She swore she heard the thing shriek before it eventually stopped thrashing and lay still on the gravel.
"Hey, Spider-Woman." Kate grappled down next to her.
"Hawkeye...what are you doing here?" Gwen put her hands on her knees and panted.
"Saving your butt, looks like." She grinned slightly and re-holstered your bow, "That thing looked like it had you by the ropes."
"Yeah, it did. Thanks..."
"Don't mention it." She waved a hand and looked down at the knocked out Bullseye, "Huh, he really is alive again..."
"Yeah." Gwen sucked in a deep breath through her nose and stood back up to her full height, noticing that she was suddenly a few inches taller than Kate. Huh, she must not have changed back fully. Whatever, "Gonna make sure they find a nice, comfy cell for him in Rykers."
"We have other things to worry about." Kate nodded down to the dead blob, "I came here because your dad wanted me to watch over you, figured you needed some backup. Didn't think you'd run into this thing."
"You know what it is?"
"Kinda." She knelt down and grabbed a sample that she put on a canister, "I've been helping Cindy investigate Scorpion. From what I gathered he's been selling off weapons and is dabbling in the high tech weapons trade. This is one of those things." She raised the vial up to her, "Apparently he managed to snag some of Evil Cindy's files and he's reverse engineering them."
"And one of those is that thing."
"Yeah, a symbiote killer. Apparently they call it anti-venom." She stood up and put the vial in a pouch, "He's been making deals with the Hand. Those old ass ninjas know they can't mess with the Avengers so they're trying to get insurance. Wouldn't be surprised if he's trying to get something like the ones that put Cap and She-Hulk out of commission last year."
"We need to stop him then."
"Exactly my idea." She smirked, "I put a tracking arrow on the van they came in. I'll call Cindy and get her to get all the stuff they left behind. They can put this guy in a cell too."
"I'm not leaving till they pick him up. Need to make sure he's put in prison." She picked up the crazy magic knife and put back on it sheath. Maybe she could convince Peter to toss it to the ocean or something.
"Fine with me." Kate shrugged and called Cindy while Gwen did the same with Mary Jane.
"MJ, you there? Change of plans. I need to follow up another lead. Could you-"
"I've already got the tracker on the guy. I'll follow him on my own." There was a pause and then her next words came out in a whisper, "Murdock's here too. Says Page sent him here to help us out. Just thought you should know."
"Fuck, why can't he just leave us the fuck alone?"
"He knows something so I can't exactly tell him to screw off. I'll be fine, okay? Follow up on your lead and I'll follow up on mine."
"Yeah...good luck."
SpacticBone45: Hey, so you remember when SHIELD got taken down, some of their files got leaked onto the internet? Now, I know most of it's encrypted, but a couple of what little me and a few friends managed to decrypt is just fascinating.
Reply from GreatPurpleZemo: Like what?
Reply from SpacticBone45: Well, some stuff we already knew, like Spinerette being a dimensional twin of Ms. Negative, but there's other interesting bits we didn't. Like for example, apparently SHIELD employed this former Russian/Soviet spy whom they codenamed Black Widow, whom SHIELD and the Soviets believed may have been descended from the actual Romanov family, and may in fact be the granddaughter of none other than Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia herself!
Reply from SpiderWomanFanGirl99: You mean like the one from the animated Anastasia movie? Didn't she die in real life though?
Reply from SpacticBone45: Apparently not, if the SHIELD files are to be believed. At least the Soviets thought she might have been Anastasia's granddaughter.
Reply from SpiderWomanFanGirl99: Huh... What else did you find? Any chance one of the files has the real identity of Spider-Woman in it?
Reply from SpacticBone45: Maybe? It's taken us months just to crack the few files we have, so this whole thing could probably take years. Decades even to fully crack. Plus that's the assuming info is there, especially since apparently only a small part of SHIELD's entire database got leaked. Even the previously mentioned bits about Spinerette and Black Widow never revealed their names, just their codenames.
Reply from Spinerette: You know, I probably shouldn't have to tell you this considering how stupid it is that your doing it, but publicly admitting to decrypting and revealing information from classified leaked SHIELD documents is a crime in most UN-affiliated nations, including the United States.
Reply from SpacticBone45: Crap...
Reply from GreatPurpleZemo: Busted!
"Finally here. What took you so long?"
Cindy looked to the figure leaning against the wall next to her apartment's elevator and raised a brow, "Hey, Pete. You're looking better." She almost didn't recognize him. He didn't look like a 7 year old anymore, which she was sure Gwen would be happy about, and he was dressed differently. Instead of the usual jackets and cargo pants he wore a dark, casual suit and had thick stubble that looked oddly flattering on him.
Next to her, Felicia raised a brow at his appearance and crossed her arms, "And here I thought you had a different kind of makeover, Spider."
"Teresa brought me back. Clothes too." He tugged on the suit's collar with a slight grimace, "Least it's bulletproof..."
"Thought you'd like suits considering the whole 30's thing you've got going," Cindy said.
"Suits aren't made to be fighting or sneaking around in. There's a reason those spy movies you like so much are just fiction." He tugged on the collar again before finally just unbutton the top part of the shirt, "Where are we heading anyway? Your text didn't give much details."
Cindy clicked the elevator button, "I told you that the guy we were interrogating suddenly OD'd, right?" He nodded, "Right, well he got transferred to the city morgue. Jean's already over there and she's making sure we're the only one's near it. Figured you wouldn't want to get near any cops."
"Sure." He stepped into the elevator with them and spoke once the doors closed, "I should probably give you a heads up. My powers are on the fritz right now."
Cindy's eyes narrowed, "What do you mean?"
"I mean that the way Teresa brought me back put a damper on the Spider-God's presents. Still have my spider-sense, but I'm not sure about anything else. You're gonna have to do most of the fighting for us."
"You couldn't have said that before you showed up?" Despite her huffing Cindy didn't really mind all that much. She came here expecting him to still be a 7 year old, after all, "Whatever, just try not to be so...you. Can't dodge bullets now."
"If you say so." He crossed his arms and leaned back first against the wall. Sometimes she wondered if he meant to do that or he just didn't notice how much of a tryhard he sometimes looked, "You sure DeWolff won't cuff me as soon as I step foot in there?"
"Considering she's playing vigilante herself? Not likely."
"She hasn't arrested me so far." Felicia hummed, "Then again I'm a thief, not a vigilante."
"Says the woman who helped me kill a demon last year." Peter scoffed, "...Speaking of, heard you met with Matt."
"You could say that." Felicia's lips curled in a (somehow still graceful) sneer, "I have to admit, Spider, you'd be the last person I expected to be able to stomach working with him. Especially after what he did to your friend."
The side of Peter's mouth twitched and his right hand curled into a fist, "I made a deal with Page. She said she'd make sure Bullseye didn't stay in Hell if I kept Matt on a leash."
"The same Bullseye that's been brought back and attacked your surrogate sister?"
Peter didn't say anything and the rest of the painfully slow ride was spent in uncomfortable silence. Cindy sighed under her breath and just looked at the number ticking down. She still had no idea how Pete's ragtag group didn't kill each other a year ago.
Felicia drove him to the morgue while Cindy swung over them and they discussed the case on the phone, "So the guy just overdosed?" he asked.
"Yeah." She stopped on a flagpole and waited for them to pass the sudden traffic jam, "No needle marks, not even any old ones. We were just interrogating the guy and suddenly he starts OD'ing right in front of us. Heroin overdose every time."
"How many times?"
"Three." Cindy sighed and started swinging again. Down below a bunch of people looked up and started taking pictures with some even asking her to stay and take a few selfies. She ignored them; Gwen could be the social media star, "We pulled up their files too. All of em have rapsheets a mile wide - burglary, muggings, the occasional racist comment - but none of them have any drug charges. They go from being totally clean to overdosing in like a minute."
"My guess is there's powers involved." He muttered something she couldn't make out, "What do you expect me to do? I'm not psychic."
"Just do your thing. You're the best detective from the five of us." She still had no idea how, really. Gwen was the police chief's daughter and Cindy was trained by S.H.I.E.L.D but for some reason Pete still had them beat on that front with just some memories from some guy in the 30's. Who also didn't have any detective training, just to make that even weirder. She didn't question it.
They got to the morgue and the receptionist buzzed them in. DeWolff was already there with a forensics expert. Carlie Cooper, who Jean assured them they could trust. Apparently she was in on DeWolff's side gig. DeWolff raised a brow as soon as she saw them, "Huh...thought you were a 7 year old?"
"You sound disappointed."
"Just wanted to see what all the hype was about. A few of the officers thought you were cute and said they'd feel bad arresting a kid."
"How flattering." He rolled his eyes and accepted the gloves Cooper handed him. He got to work immediately, checking over the eyes, mouth, veins and anything else that drugs could've kicked in from. Cooper helped him while Cindy just watched. She'd already done her fair share of corpse searching and that included what was between his legs. Apparently some real sickos shot up through there. Thought it'd give them a better high cause...reasons.
"I'll admit I have no idea how Spider's going to find anything," Felicia hummed.
"I'm with Black Cat. If trained officers couldn't find anything then I doubt he can."
"Look, do you want help or not? Cause right now he's the best shot we've got."
"You know I still can't believe that I'm in the same room as Black Cat and Spider-Man and I'm not trying to arrest either. If the commish saw us here he'd blow a gasket."
"Times change, Jean. That's the reason I'm here." Cindy smiled wryly and crossed her arms, "'Sides, you put him out of the streets you're gonna have to deal with the crap he deals with. You wanna take over fighting ninjas, demons, vampires, witches, ghosts and whatever else he's dealing with?"
"Yeah, sure. I'll get on that once they gimme a gun that fires silver bullets." Jean snorted.
"He does fight a rather absurd number of Halloween monsters. One would think he'd focus more on normal crime," Felicia said.
"You know I can hear you, right?" Peter said without looking up.
"Less eavesdropping and more investigating," she said cheerily. Despite everything it was nice to work with someone she knew had her back. Felicia was only there because she owed her and Jean was her 'official police liason', which pretty much translated to being a babysitter. Neither of them were really her friends despite all her joking around.
Eventually Peter got something that caught his eye, "Check this out." He gestured to the back of the stiff's head. There was a skull and crossbones tattoo right where the small of their neck was.
"Yeah, I saw that earlier. Didn't really stick out for me."
"It should. This is the symbol of the crossbones gang. It's a small outfit on Yancy street."
"A gang? Then how come we've never heard of it?" DeWolff asked.
"Because they don't get caught. They're small time, DeWolff, and they don't advertise. Most cops don't look at tattoos at the back of the neck and the design is hardly distinct. These clowns fancy themselves a secret society when really they're more an afterschool club."
"So what does this tell us?"
"It tells us his gang might know something." He removed the gloves, "Even nowadays you can't exactly just find aries lying on the street. He had to have a dealer, or at least some way to get the drugs at all. He can't overdose from nothing."
"So we go to Yancy street." Cindy's shoulders sagged. She didn't like the place, and neither did any cops assigned to that beat. While it wasn't as bad as Hell's Kitchen - cause it was pretty hard to beat a place the devil was squatting on - it definitely wasn't a nice place. The reigning gang over in the area were as hardy as cockroaches: any single one you stop was immediately replaced with another. There was a reason people called it 'The ass crack of New York'.
"You know you picked a really bad time to lose all your levels, Pete."
"That's what you're here for." He smiled cheekily.
"I'm sorry, but I have to ask: how exactly do you know about this gang when even the police don't?" Jean asked.
"They slip through the cracks and I catch them. Same with Carter." Jean pursed her lips and glared at him. Cindy still wasn't out by then but she heard all about him stopping the serial killer former cop. Even now she knew a few officers who griped that it made them look bad, cause apparently him catching a serial killer wasn't worth the police getting crapped on by people who'd always find some way to shit on them.
"Could you be a bit more specific?"
"Is this really necessary?" he asked tiredly.
"I already have my doubts on this so humor me."
"Fine. One of their members worked for Owlsley and he sent them to try and kill my aunt and uncle after my identity got exposed. So I asked him who sent them and when he refused I shot his pecker off." Cindy winced while Felicia actually laughed, more out of exasperation than anything else. DeWolff's eyes narrowed while Cooper just looked uncomfortable, "I ran into another member when I was gathering info. You probably found him in the pile of other mooks in the Dead End bar."
Jean gripped her arm hard and took a long, deep breath. Peter didn't say anything and just looked at her passively, "...Right thank you for clarifying that." She turned to Cindy, "Could I talk to you alone for a sec?"
"Uh, I'll show you two out," Cooper said.
Jean was on her as soon as the door closed, "Are you sure this is a good idea?" Cindy sighed. She knew this was coming, "I know I can't judge considering my side-activities and how I tried to work with Spider-Woman before she was declared innocent but Spider-Man's a different kind of beast altogether. I don't think him being anywhere near a police investigation is a good idea."
"But it worked, didn't it? We wouldn't have a single lead if he wasn't here. You didn't know about that gang and I sure as hell didn't. Like him or not we'd be stuck without him."
"This is just..." Jean paused, trying to find the words, "Do you trust him?"
"Honestly? He's one of the people I do trust."
"Yeah, well, maybe you should pick your friends better."
Cindy raised a brow. She was going there, was she? "No offense, but I don't really care what you think about him. I don't trust you, I don't trust Felicia- I don't trust a lot of people. Comes with the whole 'trapped in a bunker for ten years cause I trusted the wrong person' thing. Pete's one of the few people I do trust so if it's between him and you then it's him."
"So you condone everything he does?"
"Of course not. I trust him, I'm not blind. I know he's had his share of fuck ups, but guess what? We spent a year dealing with demon possessed lawyers and an evil version of me who wanted to play god while the police and half of S.H.I.E.L.D did screw all to help. So yeah, I trust him more than I trust most people. And I'll be honest - I would've beat bars full of thugs too if they tried to murder my parents for some cannibal crimelord."
DeWolff sighed, "I guess there's no point in arguing this, is there?"
"Not really, but I get the feeling that's not really what you really asked me to stay behind. Spill it."
"Fine. How long are you going to be 'on loan' with us?"
"Trying to get rid of me already?" she smiled sardonically, "Honestly? I don't know. Cap just told me to go here as a favor and she was right about you guys needing the help." Hell, she was set to give them instructions on how to use the new prototype webshooters Wasp was rolling out for police use in a few months. Nevermind the fact that she didn't use one like Gwen did.
"Yeah. As much as Masters and a couple of other old timers bitch we need help. We just aren't equipped to deal with clowns who can phase through walls or jump 50 feet in the air while chucking energy beams."
"What's your point?"
"My point is, would you consider making this a permanent gig?"
"...Alright, I'm waiting for the punchline."
"Not joking. I'm not so proud that I can't admit we don't need your help. Look, as much as Masters and a few other assholes give you shit we really do appreciate the help you've given us. Hell, we wouldn't have been able to rescue those hostages from Boomerang if you didn't swing in and your help on the attack at the Symkarian embassy saved a lot of lives. And that's just two incidents."
"Didn't you just get finished telling me my choice in friends suck?"
"Like you said, everyone has their share of fuckups."
"Charming." She rolled her eyes. DeWolff was honest but she definitely wasn't a charmer. Cindy liked that about her, "Look, even if I wanted to - and I'm not saying I am - I'm still an Avenger. Kinda of a step down, don't you think?"
"Considering your credentials it wouldn't take much to get you formally deputized. Pass a Police Academy crash course with that photographic memory of yours and voila, Spider-Cop. It's not like the Avengers go on patrol so unless you're doing your saving the world thing you could still do this."
"Again, assuming that's what I wanna do," Cindy replied neutrally, "I'm gonna be honest, Jean. I like you, and I like most of the other officers, but I'm not sure being a cop's right for me. I'm not blind enough to think assholes like Masters are the rare, never before seen breed. It just takes a single internet search to see some of the things cops do to innocent people and...after S.H.I.E.L.D and the Carnage symbiote I'm not sure I wanna latch myself into another ship full of holes."
She'd seen the news stories. A few years ago it was cops beating on a bum or someone with different skin color. Now the Gifted were the main targets She'd seen a life coach who got transformed by that damn peanut mist getting harassed by her landlord and the neighborhood beat cops just cause she had the bad luck to change physically without getting any powers to fight back. Even sending her to She-Hulk's law firm to get help felt bittersweet.
Then again did she really have any room to judge? She was friends with Pete and she knew for a fact that Mary Jane was going on a serial killing spree and wasn't doing anything to stop it. Jean probably wouldn't have asked her if she knew about the latter.
"I know that. Even back when I was a rookie we had cops taking bribes and beating on people because they were on a power trip. I know Masters is a racist asshole who doesn't like anyone he considers a 'freak' and even before the Gifted show up people used any excuse to hate someone else. I know that. But you must've seen good cops and I do think you can do a lot of good here. Just give it some thought, yeah?"
"...Sure, but right now we've got a case to solve. Maybe when I put Scorpion behind bars I can think about it."
She met up with Peter and Felicia outside, "What took you so long?" Peter took a long drag of his cigarette and coughed slightly.
"Something wrong?"
"Nothing. Smoking just feels different without my powers. Can actually feel the burning in my lungs."
"Welcome to your first taste of humanity, Spider. I hope you enjoy it." Felicia smirked, "By the way, I won't be joining you on your trip down to the wasteland. Jane just called me and said Murdock is offering her help with something. I'll be going to keep an eye on them both."
"You know you've got a really loose definition of 'I'll help you with your cases in exchange for your help with my revenge'," Cindy snarked.
"Just let her go. It's better for her to be watching over Mary than interrogating gang members with us." He gave one final exhale then stamped the cigarette under his loafers, "Come on, let's get this over with."
TrueOutsider: Alright we gotta talk some real shit. Spider-Woman being a feminist icon? Bullshit.
Reply from Powernod: Where'd this come from ?
Reply from TrueOutsider: I'm just sick of hearing it all the time. My college classmates gush about her all the time and it's so damn cringey. I mean she got bitten by a radioactive spider and now she has powers. Okay? She didn't earn that or anything. Anyone could do that. We gonna worship people like Tony Stark who got money cause of their dad too?
Reply from blackWOLF: I agree. Hell, I'm tired of her being touted as something for the LGBT community too. So just cause she says she's bi suddenly it means she's one of us? I mean we've never even seen her dating anyone but guys! TrueOutsider is right, anyone can look brave when they've got a random lottery supwerpower.
Reply from bulanet2: Really? Anyone? So you could've dealt with the entire city calling you a murderer, the police hunting you down and being attacked by villains? You could've kept being a hero when the people you saved spat on you? Really?
Reply from TrueOutsider: She had powers. Sticks and stones can't break her bones.
Reply from Gray Daze - Bullshit. I grew up rich and took up sports. Guess what? Didn't stop it from hurting when assholes shit on me for my choices. You two sound just like those pricks.
Reply from bulanet2: Most people don't admire her because she has powers, it's because of what she did with them. You don't see most of us celebrating Alpha, do you? Spider-Woman did something with her powers. Griping that the woman who helped save the world is so damn stupid I'm getting an aneurysm.
Reply from FriendlyNeighborhoodSpiderWoman: Thanks bulanet2. Yeah, I'll be the first to admit I didn't do anything to get these powers, but I'm doing my best to earn them. Every person I help, every charity event I go to, it's because of these powers and I'm trying to make sure I use them the best I can. If that's not good enough for some people then I don't care. I've given up trying to please everyone and I never asked to be an icon or anything.
"Care for a dance, miss?"
Mary Jane's lips puckered in distaste and she turned to catch Murdock's cocky gaze. He looked different, swapping out his usual suit for a pair of jeans, black sneakers and a dull gray hoodie pulled up to mask his face. The only thing that he kept on that she recognized were the piercing red sunglasses that hid his milky gray eyes from view. Even his cane was gone, which just looked weird.
"What the hell are you doing here?" she hissed. She'd just gotten the tracker placed on Frankie and gotten a text from Gwen that the Bullseye killer was here when her would-be partner showed up. Just cause she told Gwen she'd work together with him didn't mean she liked him dropping in unannounced.
"Just looking for a dance." He tilted his shades just enough to expose the pale irises underneath.
"Tell me what you're doing here or I'll punch you so hard, you'll see."
"Hmm, that's a rare threat." He gestured to the camera wall where one of the cameras was, "I'd rather not talk here. It's rather suspicious when a man and a stripper just engage in long, casual conversation, don't you think?"
"And that makes it okay for me to sleaze it up for you?"
"If it's any comfort my condition means I can only see people as outlines. Your chastity is safe from my prying eyes, scout's honor. Now," He leaned forward and made a show of pressing a stack of bills in her hand, "Let's find a private room and ensure Karen's choice to send you aid isn't wasted."
Mary Jane bit back a snarl and eventually led him to one of the spare rooms. There was still a camera there, but she turned the music up loud enough to drown out any conversation. Good thing these things weren't high quality, "Just sit down and don't touch me. If you try anything I'll snip it off."
"Not to worry, Ms. Jade, I'll be a perfect gentleman." He leaned back into the chair and she tried to find a rhythm with the way too loud techno pop song. It was one of Felicia's old hits, just to add insult to injury.
True to his word Murock kept perfectly still, staring blankly past her while his glasses kept his eyes hidden from view. For all the outside world could see he was just a sunglasses wearing weirdo who wanted a dance, "So why are you here?" she asked when she pressed herself up against him.
"Karen sent me. She believes that this Bianchie fellow, whether he's aware of it or not, could be connected to the Hand or perhaps even that Roxxon fellow kidnapping innocent people and placing a bounty on Peter's head. The latter specifically is of particular interest to me."
"Why? You do know Tiger hates you, right?" She scoffed.
"Love makes one do strange things. You would know, wouldn't you?" She almost tripped and fell on her face at the nonchalant confession. Love? Did he mean... "And yes, I mean in the romantic sense. I can 'see' you're curious about it." He grinned up at her.
She shook her head and got back to pace, "Dude, he hates you. As in he tried to kill you last year and he'd probably do it again if your weird girlfriend didn't dangle that deal in front of him. How does that make any sense?"
"Since when is love ever sensible? And I don't think you, of all people, can claim a right to rationality." MJ paused and her heart rate sped up? Did he know? "After all, not many rational people would make a deal with a murderous symbiote."
"...Yeah, guess not." She shook her head. Why the hell did she care what he thought? "So you're here to be my 'partner'. Fine, just don't get in my way. And I'm telling Gwen so you can't lord it over her later."
"Lord it over her? I would never!"
She finished the routine by putting her leg against the wall inches from his face. He laughed under his breath and made his way out while she called both Gwen and Felicia and told them the situation. This was gonna be a long day.
Shi Oh: Anyone miss the days before Spider-Man sold out?
Reply from Datura: wdym?
Reply from Shi Oh: Like over a year ago he was fighting the real crims. Serial killers, crime bosses, the guys who picked on the little guy. Now every time you turn up the news it's cause he fought ninjas or demons or werewolves or some shit. Wtf happened?
Reply from Kappa Emote: ...Implying that those things don't pick on the little guy? The vampires took over a whole freaking school!
Reply from andrewmogue: Yeah, I live in Hell's Kitchen. Ever since that demon tick thing got killed things have been way better. Like...that heavy feeling of 'shit is hopeless' is just gone.
Reply from Shi Oh: I still miss the old Spider-Man, before he went to hard fantasy.
Reply from DarkSpider: You do realize I still deal with that stuff, right? Just cause I don't take one of those 'selfies' at a crime scene and post it online doesn't mean it didn't happen.
Reply from Shi Oh: How do we know you're not just saying that?
Reply from DarkSpider: I don't care if you believe me. I didn't get into this for public approval. I'm one guy and there are monsters everywhere. You really think I can stop every crime boss in the city on top of the monsters coming out of the woodwork? If so you're insane. Try asking the cops to fight demons and vampires. Would lighten up my workload.
Reply from layla: Don't actually do that. My daughter got possessed a week ago and the police couldn't do anything. Spider-Man managed to exorcise her, Thank God.
Reply from DarkSpider: Just make sure she doesn't play with Ouija boards again. Demons are a difficult to send back...
So we've got three segments - Peter and Cindy investigating Yancy Street gang; Gwen and Kate investigating the Scorpion weapons shipment; and Mary Jane, Felicia and Matt tracking the Maggia goon. I'll also be showing Lana's recovery the next chapter so pick one among the three you'd like to see first. The other two will show up in the chapter after the next.
Anyway, we've got a victory for Gwen with her managing to take out Bullseye. I'm sure that'll last and his role in the story is over. Totally.
Questions:
1. What do you guys think of post story segments? Spider-Island is the planned finale but I do have some story ideas that don't really fit into any overarching main plot. Would you guys still like those even if there's no longer any overarching story to tie stuff together after SI?
2. How's the romance so far? I've gotten comments from RL friends that think Peter and Gwen need to interact more casually like the carnival date chapter. Do they not feel like enough of a couple or something?
Review Answers:
Brave2000: A whole arc? It'd be interesting but also kind of narm-y since it'd have to be with the Defenders shrunk like the other prisoners. Kinda kills the mood when you realize all these action scenes are with people action figure sized.
Hardlight: Raft is more secure now due to shrink tech. That and I dunno what pleasant hill is like.
Raw Prodigy - My fanfic isn't any different from the millions of other fics on this site, so not really.
Shadi22 - Yeah, I'll fix that at some point. Not knowledgable on foreign naming.
Dr. Sugarcakes - Cindy's getting a new ongoing so hey.
retrogunner7 - I think you are since no one else questions it. Same with Gwen stopping a nuclear apocalypse, fighting skrulls and stopping a kaiju.
