Sorry it took a while. Replaying old games and thesis came back around. Got some free time now, though.
This chapter is shorter than average but I figured it was fine since the previous chapters were pretty heavy. Following the votes I gave Noir access to webswinging. It's a different feel from the way Gwen, Mary Jane and Cindy do it but it should be good enough.
Given the lack of positive feedback on the Moon Knight chapter any future updates on that will be indefinitely stalled.
On a side note I watched the Gotham Knights trailer and it's definitely put me in the mood to do a chapter where all four Spiders - Peter, Gwen, Mary Jane and Cindy - work together. Noir getting webswinging also means he won't lag behind during chase scenes.
Noel Janus: Hot take: Spider-Woman made a massive mistake going back to Spider-Man.
Reply from Zz hush: Agreed. She could do way better.
Reply from MAF1A K: I swear every time I wake up there are a dozen more posts with this exact same topic. People are too horny on main for Spider-Woman...
Reply from Extreme Sarge: I'm not the biggest fan of Spider-Man but it really isn't our business who Spider-Woman is sleeping with. Reminds me when I lived in Japan and fans went batshit when some idol was caught with a boyfriend. Even if she was free you guys don't have chances.
Reply from Zz hush: Difference is Spider-Man is a legitimate murderer vigilante.
Reply from Xillite: Also a superhero who killed a demon and stopped the Kingpin.
Reply from Noel Janus: Did he even change anything? Have you guys never heard of power vacuums? Taking out the big guy just makes things worse. Hell, it was probably better when the Kingpin was in charge. Least he would've kept crime under control.
Reply from Kourt II: Look at this documentary. That's just one little girl the Kingpin's family forced into prostitution where she was beaten and raped on the daily. If you honestly think things were better under the Kingpin I have a bridge I wanna sell you.
Reply from Sencat: Dude you're literally so butthurt over your super crush being in a relationship you're arguing things were better when a demon was in charge of Hell's Kitchen? Can't tell if trolling or just that stupid. 'Controlled' crime is still crime, idiot.
Reply from Zz hush: Doesn't change the fact that Spider-Man's a criminal and really shouldn't be running around with Spider-Woman. If a murderer kills a murderer he's no better than him.
Reply from Kourt II: Shit, I guess every person who ever killed to save themselves or someone else are just psychopaths who need to go to prison, huh? And I thought only Jedi dealt in absolutes...
"Come on, Peter. Take a leap of faith."
Peter stopped looking down the edge of the building and gave Gwen a dirty look. Even through her mask he could see the grin on her face clear as day, "Shut it." He grit his teeth and swallowed nervously. Howard's place was pretty far off and it'd take a while if they just walked. He wanted to use a bike, Gwen wanted to swing them both over there and she decided splitting up right after they just got back together was a no-go. He agreed with her, but he wasn't exactly keen on doing another swing-along. As much as he trusted her he preferred it when he had his hand on the reins.
Which left her with a new idea: teach him how to webswing.
Peter looked down at the street below again and grimaced. He wasn't scared of heights. Even before Gwen loaned him one of her webshooters he was used to moving around the city, to quote Lana's words, 'like a fucked up, edgy monkey'. It was part of the package. Sure he couldn't swing across skyscrapers like Gwen, Cin or Mary but he never really needed to. Most of the people he dealt with kept to the ground.
"You sure we can't just take a cab? You can teach me all about using my phone for something other than calling people." She always got on his case about that. He didn't get it. It was a phone; the name itself was pretty self-explanatory. Now people used it for everything. What was the point of a camera when apparently everyone used their phones to take those 'selfies'?
"Tempting, but no." She hopped onto the small barrier on her hands and feet and looked back at him with a badly hidden grin. The building they chose was short in height - short enough that if by some miracle both of his new webshooters failed he could still climb his way down on instinct.
Sadly it wasn't deserted, as the gaggle of people taking photos on their phones down at the street could attest to. It was her idea of a joke. Gwen knew he hated crowds so what better motivation to learn fast than wanting to get the hell away from their prying eyes. That and it proof that they were back together and she was completely unashamed about that. Sweet, but right now he couldn't really care.
"Seriously, Pete, it's fine. You're a Spider, this is something you were born to do."
"We didn't get the same Spiders, rememember?" He sighed.
"I promise I'll catch you if you fall," she teased. He gave her another dirty look, "Come onm we've been up here for 15 minutes already! Just...try it and I promise you'll be swinging from one end of the city before you know it!"
"Mmgh..." He adjusted the webshooters one last time. It was a new gift from Wasp. While he was in the Raft Gwen decided to take the webshooters back to Van Dyne for some basic upkeep. She did more than that. A few tweaks here and there and she'd adjusted them higher so they didn't block his organic webs. Now he could use them both without worrying about them getting covered in gunk.
"Ready?"
"As I'll ever be."
He jumped. It was a short fall and he only got a couple of seconds of rushing air before he clicked twice on his right webshooter and shot a clear white line of webbing into the closest building, "Ngh!" He grunted at the sudden pull on his arm as he swung in a low arc before he rose up and, with another click, detached the web then shot another one with his other hand.
It was...something. Unlike a lot of Gwen's speculative fans he actually knew what webswinging was like after their constant swing-alongs. Still, it was a different feeling entirely when it was his hands holding onto the webs. With Gwen she held him close and all he had to do was trust that she knew what she was doing. Here and now the only thing keeping him from smashing face-first into a wall was his own skills.
Gwen swung by his right, "Catch up, slowpoke!" she shouted back teasingly. Even at a glance it was obvious how different they were. Peter was cautious, swinging close to buildings so there was always a handhold within reach. Gwen was...free. She swung in wide arcs and didn't hesitate to do needless flips or even the occasional pirouette (apparently Walters was trying to get her into ballet).
"Are you alright?" she asked into his comms. He never bothered to get rid of it, mostly for convenience's sake.
"I'm fine. Just trying to get used to this." Even now he felt the urge to just jump across the rooftops like his brother did all those years ago. The Spider-God didn't build him with swinging around in mind.
"Don't think about it so much. Just do what comes natural!"
"Natural, huh...?"
He landed on the office building roof in front of him. Gwen looked back and almost doubled back before he ran, flipped over a roof vent and jumped into another swing, "What are you-" Gwen stopped when he landed on top of a bus, paused briefly then swung up to a fire escape for another flip.
"What's with the parkour?"
"Doing what comes naturally." He made sure to keep lower than her so he could find handholds and keep the momentum going. He wasn't built like Gwen. She felt at home in the air but he preferred to stick close to the ground. Still, he could definitely see the use for this. At the very least it'd make fighting a lot easier now that he could use all sides.
"Whatever works for you, I guess!"
It didn't take much longer to make it to Howard's place. They slunk into an alley once they were sure no one was looking and changed into their civilian looks, "You're getting better at that," Peter said once Gwen shifted to a different face. Still a blonde, but distinct enough from Gwen Stacy that no one would be able to match the two.
"Thanks. Cap still wants me to reveal my identity but till then this'll have to do." She flipped the long, back length hair and made an exaggerated, haughty expression, "No one will ever realize that Tigra la Muertaface is secretly Spider-Woman."
"...Naming could still use some work." He took off his mask and jacket to expose the gray turtleneck underneath. He didn't have the fancy suits Gwen and Mary had but at least he could blend in a crowd with just a quick change, "You heard from Mary recently?" He didn't get a chance to meet up with the others yet. He managed to message all of them and all of them but Mary responded. He wasn't too worried; he'd done the same now and then.
"She said she'd be busy a couple of days before you got out. I was gonna ask Murderdock about it, but...you know."
"He won't harm her, not with Page's collar on him." Not that he thought Matt could. Considering what Mary could do Peter doubted there was anything he could do. Much more likely he'd try for assisted suicide once it became too much,
"If you say so." She definitely wasn't convinced. Peter decided against arguing the point and made his way up to Howard's room with Gwen trailing after him. This wasn't exactly the best neighborhood, but it was cheap and the owner was one of the few willing to lease a talking duck with no paperwork. Though, as Howard told him one drunk night, no papers also meant no taxes. Same applied to him considering he came back from the dead.
Peter knocked on the door and was met with an all too familiar, tired voice, "Come in." He opened the door and Howard's attempt at a professional look immediately deflated, "Oh, it's you. Figured I finally had a new client." He sagged in his seat and grabbed the half-filled cup of whiskey. Behind him Gwen stood warily and eyed his feathery fingers. For some reason he freaked her out. No idea why considering the things they fought on the daily.
"Business not doing so good?"
"Nah. Not since Jones got back to work. Everyone wants to go to the super-strong P.I. Like you need to lift cars to find someone," he groused, "Come in, I guess. Tell my secretary all the details." He gestured to the side where a bunch of pillows and sticks were propped up with a bucket on top in place of a head. The crudely drawn smiley stared back at them and made Gwen grimace.
"I think I'll tell you straight out, if it's all the same." He didn't look twice at the crude mannequin. He could hardly judge.
"Suit yourself. Hey, whatever happened to that red and blue spider dame you had with you?"
"She went back home. Thanks for that, by the way." Still couldn't believe there was a world where he survived long enough to get a kid. And with Mary, of all people. Not to say she wasn't pretty but it was hard to imagine.
"It was the only gig I had in weeks." From behind him Gwen snorted into her hands. Howard looked past him with narrowed eyes, "...Who's your friend?"
"She's-"
"Tigra la Muertaface, international woman of the people. Pleasure to meet you." She said in a faux posh accent. Gwen looked like she was debating whether to offer a hand before ultimately deciding against it.
"Well, Ms. 'Muertaface', you'll have to forgive me for not rolling out the red carpet." He finished off his drink and looked back at him, "So why'd you come over? I doubt you came here for a visit."
"Something new came up." He slid the USB across Howard's cluttered desk, "Professor at ESU went missing and from the looks of things foul play's involved. Figured you might be able to help me out."
"Why do ya need my help? You're almost as good as this gig as I am." Peter ignored the emphasis.
"Couldn't hurt to get a second opinion on things."
"...You better be paying for this."
"I'm not asking for charity, Howard." He handed the duck a little above his usual rate and plugged the data stick into his old, beat-up computer. Summers was still busy with something but they already sent her the diary file. They'd just have to do without till she got back to them, "Let's see if we can find something that'll clue us in on where he'll be."
They pored through the files. There was a lot of junk they had to go through - calendar full of meetings, lesson plans, even a couple of porn subscriptions that Howard paid just a little too much attention to, much to Gwen's dismay. He had to admit the lesson plans were interesting. Like Miles Warren this Morbius guy had a keen mind for chemistry and genetics. Not that he was surprised. Ever since Walters came out anyone who wanted weapons figured genetic engineering was the new nuclear bomb. Good thing it wasn't so easy to replicate.
One thing did stick out. Most of the later research notes focused on ALS.
"ALS? That's that neurodegenerative disease," Gwen said. Throughout the entire thing she read through the files with them. Apparently she wanted to improve her own investigation skills, "I heard that Jessica's lawyer 'friend' got it. Hmm, you think he was being paid to research a cure?"
"Maybe. I get the feeling it's part of the reason he's gone AWOL." Peter pointed to one of the later files, "All these later notes show that he was getting closer and closer to something workable. If the wrong people found out I could see them deciding they want him making the cure for them to sell. People will pay anything for salvation." Why hand out medicine for free when you could take people for everything they were worth? Anything to line your pockets.
"I doubt it. Unless this Morbius guy was screaming to anyone who'd hear he was curing this stuff no one would know," Howard said, "'Sides, who'd believe some college teacher would have the miracle cure?"
"We live in an insane world, Howard. Who'd believe a washed up scientist would be the one to turn his cousin to an amazon?" In a world like this the most amazing discoveries came from the unlikeliest sources. As much as he hated who he was before he had to admit it was pretty impressive that a bulled kid with stolen chemicals could make something the likes of Moon or S.H.I.E.L.D couldn't.
If only he did something worthwhile with that brain of his.
"Maybe, but no point in guessin' till something comes up." Howard grunted.
"This might be a lead." Peter opened another file to an expansive list of drugs and chemicals, "Some of these are easy enough to get, but others you can't exactly get from the drugstore. Or legally."
"What are you saying? You think Prof Morbius pissed of the wrong dealer or something?" Gwen asked.
"Doubt it's that simple considering the state we found his room in, but any lead's worth it." He unplugged the data drive, "You know this part of town better than me, Howard. Know anyone selling rare chemicals?"
"Most of the guys on the street I know are dealers, but I do know one guy. Karl Malus, ex-scientist who'll sell anything someone needs. You need something that'll get S.H.I.E.L.D on your backside and he'll have it. I still have his address. Had to make a deal when I turned into a rat." Gwen looked even more weirded out at that, "Long story. Point is I know where he is. Just make sure it doesn't come back to me, huh?"
"We promise." Gwen nodded.
Howard wrote down the address on a small slip of paper and handed it to him. Besides Cindy he was the only person Peter knew that still used paper, "Thanks. Oh, by the way..." Peter fished out a card from his pocket and slid it towards Howard, "Since you've been having a slow day it might be a good idea to branch out. Satanna's been hounding me to solve something but I never have time."
"The demon lady?" Gwen looked put off by that.
"Demon?! Waauuughhh, you think I wanna deal with that?! Are you crazy?!" Howard shouted.
"...Says the talking duck trapped in another dimension?" Peter asked back flatly, "It shouldn't be dangerous and Satanna pays her dues." Took pride on that, in fact. Like Mephisto said, anyone can pluck the wings off an insect. Demons like Satanna considered themselves better than that, "It's either this or hoping someone else comes along with a miracle job that'll help you pay rent."
"Ugh...you sure she ain't gonna grab my soul or something?" Howard looked down at the card warily.
"Not unless you offer it to her. She's pretty particular about that."
"She might make you think she's the hottest woman on earth, though. Just a heads up." Gwen snorted.
"Guess I've had worse. Thanks, Spidey."
"See you around, Howard."
He walked back out with Gwen behind him, "Guess we know where to go next." He handed her the slip of paper and she looked it up on her phone map. 30 minutes if they walked, so it was probably a good thing that she taught him how to be a 'real Spider', "Might not wanna go in as Spider-Woman for this. We don't want to spook this Malus guy if we can help it."
"I'm not sure I like the idea of letting an illegal chemical dealer running around..."
"Depends on how dangerous he is. If he's selling plutonium then I agree, we should take him down." He didn't stop dealers much, something Gwen disagreed with on principle. It was your choice with what you did with yourself, but as soon as you spread that hurt to everyone else that's when they got his attention, "Very least we need to interrogate him. He's our only lead so far."
"Got it." She was quiet for a moment before she suddenly asked, "So...what did Ms. Goat Horns want with you?"
"...Doesn't matter-"
"That sounds like someone with something to hide." She stepped up beside him and looked at him with exaggerated suspicion, "Come on, spill."
"Fine." He sighed. As much as he loved Gwen he could admit she could be nosy at the worst times. She was like that with everyone she cared about; a habit she picked up from her dad. Even after her promise to lighten up old habits died hard, "So...how much do you know about succubus?"
"Already not liking where this is going." She huffed, "Uh...those are the demons that have sex with people and kill them, right? Sex vampires, I guess?"
"More or less." Wasn't like he was an expert on them himself. He only got dragged into that world last year, "Well, you saw the club. Demons and angels gotta play nice if they wanna stay up here and succubus aren't any different. So they made a business out of it. Instead of breaking into people's houses to suck em dry why not make it a mutual exchange? People pay for sex all the time so it's a no-brainer."
"Wait...are you saying there are demon prostitutes running around? And that you were supposed to help them?"
"Close enough. Succubus don't bother with the whole 'sex in a dirty alley' thing. Too crude. Instead they offer...I guess you could call it similar to virtual reality? In exchange for money and a little bit of energy they give people a dream tailored to their liking. Nothing fatal - gotta keep people coming back - and both sides benefit. Demons get paid and get food while desperate people get their fantasies."
"So it's like one of those waifu simulator things? I...guess it makes sense. But I can't believe someone would give up something like that in exchange for a wet dream."
"People give up something in exchange for little pleasures." He took out a cigarette and lit it quickly, "You risk cancer if you smoke, you risk your liver if you drink, you risk clogging up your arteries every time you eat a whole pizza." She gave him a mock offended look at that, "How's this any different? It's basically a blood donation, except instead of a warm fluffy feeling of doing good you get to have sex in your dreams."
"Point made. Just..." She chewed on her lower lip, "Were you...ever tempted? You know, to get a dream of your own?"
"No." He debated briefly on his next words before deciding the embarrassment was worth it, "Why would I? You're already my dream come true."
Gwen stopped. Peter kept walking for a couple more seconds before he looked back at her with an unreadable expression. Her eyes were wide, her mouth was parted and there was a slight hint of red on her cheeks. Face reddening in turn, Peter immediately regretted his answer and made to say something else when she laughed.
No, laughing wasn't the right word for it. She was guffawing, hands on her knees as she belted out howls so loud it was a wonder the entire building didn't scream at them to shut up. Peter looked away, face now completely red, as her laughter died down to chortles and she wiped tears from her eyes. No, this was absolutely not worth it. He should've just kept his mouth shut, damn it.
"I...I can't b-believe you said that...!" she said shakily, still tittering, "Oh god, my sides! My sides!"
"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up..." He smiled wryly and looked back at her, "I...know you've been worried for the past week and what happened in the Raft. I figured you needed something to laugh about."
"So...you did that for me?" She honestly looked surprised at that. He was almost offended.
"Well...we are together. Even now there are still things I'm not used to with the whole dating thing but I know I want to make you happy." Damn it, this was going farther than he wanted. He took a long drag of his coffin nail to try and calm himself, "Even if I'm not good at romance there are still things I can do. Even if it makes me wanna crawl into a hole and die."
"Oh, well...thanks. That's...it's very sweet."
"Anything for you." He nudged his head back, "Now come on, let's find your professor." He turned around and made to walk away when she suddenly tapped his shoulder, "What's wrong? We need to-"
He stopped when he saw the giant grin on her face and her holding the phone up with a voice recorder app activated.
"...No."
"Come on, you know you want to," she teased, walking closer while he stepped back, "Just say it one more time. It's not that hard."
"What are you planning to do with it...?"
"Making it my ringtone-"
"Nope." He turned back and fast walked away with Gwen chasing after him.
"Come on! Just one more time!"
"Not happening."
"Please? It's not that hard! I promise I'll only tell the others on our next meet-up!"
"Never in a million years!"
She teased him all the way to Malus' place. A part of him wanted to be annoyed, but an ever larger part was happy that she was laughing again. As much as she tried her best knowing he and Mary were risking their lives with Matt Murdock, of all people, was hard on her. For all that she was willing to give second chances and look for the best in people Matt Murdock was unforgivable in her eyes.
They landed on a nearby rooftop, "We're here." Peter pulled up the hood of his jacket while Gwen changed her face again, this time to a short haired brunette, "Remember, we're here to get information."
"Don't worry about me. I'll be fine."
They landed on the alley and looked at the metal door with the eyeslit at the center. According to Howard all you had to do was flash some cash and prove you weren't carrying a wire. No guns either, so it was a good thing he got his powers back, "Hey, open up..." He knocked on the door and waited for the slit to open.
It didn't.
He and Gwen looked at each other warily and he knocked again, "Hey, we're here to see the doc." Still nothing. He grabbed the knob and, to his surprise, the door easily pushed open. The stench of sterile disinfectant hit his nose so hard that he almost missed the coppery scent of blood in the air.
"...Masks on." He put his on and pulled out a pistol while Gwen quickly shifted to her costume. So much for a friendly chat, "No sentries." He knelt down and eyed the blood splatter on the wall to his right. Judging by the trajectory and height it looked like someone who get their head or neck cut. Still, the lack of a body was pretty odd, especially with the pool of blood on the floor.
The place was as sterile as it smelled. Bland, gray hallways with side rooms filled with equally sterile beds or boxes that must've been filled with all manners of chemicals. He ignored those in favor of keeping an eye out and listening to his spider-sense. Places like these reminded him of the Hand's...breeding factory. Least this time he was sure he didn't have to open up some kind of blood seal.
"This place is giving me the creeps..." Gwen muttered. Unlike him she chose to crawl on the ceiling. Spider instincts at work, he guessed, "This is definitely connected to what happened to professor Morbius, right?"
"Either that or another gang trying to make a power play. But yeah, I think you're right." He stopped and pointed at a handprint on the wall, "Look at the fingers. Elongated like the ones back in the campus. No bodies either."
"We dealing with a bodysnatcher now?"
"Maybe? You're better at dealing with the science freaks than I am." Magic, science, he didn't much fancy either one when it came to the freakshows. He preferred the criminals with guns. Those he at least understood, "You dealt with those Skrull freaks more than I did a few months ago. Think this is them?"
"I doubt it. Most of them just kinda...shut down after I took out the Godzilla monster."
They finally made it to the last room, "Hmm..." He touched the doorknob and the door inched open with a loud, rusty creak to expose the unlit interior. Peter tightened his grip on his gun while Gwen hopped down into a crouched position behind him. The smell of blood was much stronger now.
The room, which must've belonged to Malus judging by the desk and chairs, was the only thing with a splash of color in the place. The mahogany desk and purple carpet stuck out compared to the steel gray beds and white mattresses earlier, "Huh..." Peter stepped inside, gun raised, and flicked the light switch. Nothing, "...Stick close, Gwen." He could see in the dark just fine but Gwen couldn't.
"Any dead bodies or creepy jack-o-lanterns?" Gwen snarked.
"Nothing." Too much nothing. What the hell was going on? He stepped forward warily till the door slammed behind them and his spider-sense blared, "Spider-Woman, move!"
He barely saw the figure that lunged from the rooftop down at them. Gwen flipped to the side to avoid the claws that cut through the metal floor, "Too close!" Gwen shouted. She aimed a punch at the figure's jaw only for it to duck and slash her stomach.
"Spider-Woman, get down!" He aimed and fired three times. The figure dodged every bullet, lunged and knocked away the gun with a quick move, "Ngh..." This thing was fast. Peter grabbed the knife at his side holster and aimed at its gut only for it to grab his wrist and grip hard enough to make him let go of the blade.
"Get off him!" Gwen shot two lines of webbing at the creature's back and smashed him against the right wall. The surface cracked from the impact and the figure growled before tearing through the webs Gwen tried to cover him with.
It lunged again and pinned her to the ground. Before she could shove it off it opened its mouth, exposing its large fangs, and bit down on her neck.
Gwen screamed and her costume shifted, going from white to black before suddenly exploding outwards with enough force to knock the monstrosity back. Peter unholstered his remaining gun and shot a line of white webbing to the stumbling figure's back.
He pulled back and shoved the gun against its gut before emptying the entire magazine. The creature screamed, a guttural sound that caused his head to ring, and he finally got a good look at it. Chalky white skin, blood red eyes and a face mutated to look more like a bat than a human being. Its - his - hair was long and dark and covered with flecks of blood that made it look even darker.
The creature shoved him hard against the wall before stumbling away. Peter grit his teeth and aimed a net of black web at his back. The creature stopped for just a moment and then, with another bestial shriek, surged forward and left behind the tattered, bloodstained labcoat before disappearing out of sight.
He debated running after him before he heard Gwen's weak groans, "Spider-Woman..." He knelt down beside her and gently pulled her up. Her costume was still an odd mish-mash of black and on her neck were two bleeding holes.
He considered covering it up with webbing when her tagalong suddenly jutted out of her shoulder, "Don't worry, she's fine. We were just surprised," She said. Peter watched as the holes slowly healed themselves and the blood was absorbed into the skin, "We expected to be attacked, not to have our blood drained. We will be prepared next time."
"I'll take your word for it."
It was another few seconds before the eyes of her mask 'opened' again and she moaned softly, "Ugh, feel like I went on a bender..." She looked up at him and laughed softly, "Nice thing to wake up to, though."
"You're joking. That's a good sign." He pulled her up into a shaky stand and held her shoulders steady as she wobbled in place, "That thing sucked out your blood. We should get you something to eat, speed up your blood production." Red meat, eggs and beans would've been good, though he was sure her tagalong would've insisted on chocolate.
"I'll be fine..." She gently pushed him off and shook her head, "Where'd the Vampire go?"
"Gone. At least he left a present behind." He cut the labcoat out of the dark silk while Gwen opened the door to let the light in. She looked down at the bloodstained cloth and tilted her head to the side, "Check this out."
He pointed at the embroidered name on the left side, "Dr. Michael Morbius..." Gwen said softly. The masks of her eyes shifted to match furrowed brows and her hands clenched into shaky fists, "You're saying that thing was the professor?"
"Seems like it. I'm guessing whatever he was researching led him to turn into that."
"So...now what? You're the expert on fighting Vampires."
"Not this kind. Most Vampires that sucked on you would've gotten poisoned considering how radioactive your blood is. Considering he wasn't puking his guts out I'm guessing he's not a 'normal' Vampire." He sighed. Mad science and magic were annoying enough on their own. Mixing the two together was just a headache all around, "Either way we gotta track him down."
"Any idea how we're gonna do that?"
"Let's give Summers a call and see if she's hacked into that diary. Then we can finish this."
Sam Lewis: Just saw Spider-Woman teaching Spider-Man to swing! It's totally adorable! -embedded link-
Reply from Sodie Pop: Huh, I didn't even notice he didn't swing till just now.
Reply from Boop Beep: You kidding me? I always thought it was weird. Like, he's Spider-Man but he runs around using guns and drives a bike whenever he's outside. That's not Spidery!
Reply from Fritzy Magpies: He does leave people webbed up everywhere, so eh.
Reply from SamWilezon: I still don't get why she's partnered up with him. She's way stronger than he is and I don't see what he brings to the table.
Reply from Sodie Pop: She mentioned before that he was really good at investigating. I guess he's the brains and she's the brawn?
Reply from Sam Lewis: Makes sense. Female spiders tend to be larger and stronger than the male ones so it makes total sense that he's weaker than Spider-Woman, Spinerette, and Scarlet Spider. It's just nature at work.
So we get introduced to Morbius. For the sake of a challenge I buffed him up so now he's capable of damaging Gwen with his fangs/claws and can survive repeated gutshots from a customized gun. Also have Gwen be physical defeated for a change while Noir's the one who managed to drive Morbius off.
For the sake of lightening up this chapter I added more lovey-dovey scenes between Noir and Gwen. Hopefully it helps wash out the previous chapters having Noir risk prison showers, fight clubs and lots of shivs.
Also, Noir's webswinging takes more from ITSV!Miles where he uses the web to augment his speed and parkour rather than going from one end of the city to the other without touching the ground like Gwen does. Hopefully it's cool with people.
Next chapter will be the end of the Morbius mini-arc. Depending on how short it is I might be able to do another segment with Cindy, Laura, Scott and Cassie since it seems like Scott is the winner for romance based on votes. Guess Cindy's going to be a two-time stepmom instead of the new queen of Symkaria.
Question:
1. Following the Gotham Knights idea, do you guys want more cross-encounters with the heroes rather than them having separate arcs? Basically Gwen helps Noir fight the Hand, Noir helps Lana fight the Serpent Skulls, Lana helps Cindy fight Scorpion etc etc. It does mean more anti-climax since not every villain is built for fighting outside of their own hero but it does add more interactions and team-ups.
Also put it up to a poll. It'll be my last one for a while since after this the story will be mostly set.
