Sorry for the wait. I've been playing through Wasteland 2/3 and I just got the Avengers game. I'm still pretty early on but so maybe I'll see it later but it's fine for now. I eagerly await Kate Bishop and Spider-Man.

Anyway, this chapter is a bit more set up since the next one will be the climax for one of Noir's plot points. This chapter also focuses on two pairs who have never really interacted before, particularly Mary Jane's segment. Hopefully it works out.

Reviews picked up last chapter. Hope I can keep it going :)


TheIrrelevant: Anyone remember when Spider-Man wore a trenchcoat? Whatever happened to it?

reply from ty o: Dunno. He stopped wearing it after a while. It's kind of a bummer. I really liked it :(

reply from N.J Swan: Says you. His new outfit looks way better. That and he doesn't look like a neckbeard tryhard. All he was missing was the fedora.

reply from LucidJoe: I dunno. I think the jacket looks really cool but it looks too similar to Spider-Woman, doesn't it?

reply from Sion Teemo: I always thought it was cause he wanted to have a matching look with Spider-Woman. He wears a hood and for a while there Spider-Woman switched to a black and red suit.

reply from TINY: I gotta agree with the first two posters the trenchcoat was freaking badass. Now he just looks like pretty generic.

reply from Void Frog: I wonder, why doesn't he wear a proper costume? Every other Spider wears spandex but he's still running around wearing something you'd pick out of a garage sale.

reply from Discount Disco: Spider-Woman said in an interview before she tried. Apparently he shot the costume :/


"Are you sure about this?" Gwen asked for the nth time that hour. Teresa told them that Murakami set the meeting at a cozy little corner of a large park. No goons, no ninjas and none of the other Fingers knew about it. Apparently. He doubted Murakami was lying but he also thought they were alone when Gao and her cronies dragged him out of the fire. Must've been sore about that.

"Answer's not gonna change, Gwen." He took another drag of the cigarette and eyed the free table. Murakami sat there looking for all the world like an old man out for a stroll. His gray suit was neatly pressed and there wasn't a single wound on his face despite Matt's assurances about bloodying him during that riot. That chi could give the Spider-God a run for its money.

"This is a dumb plan." Gwen muttered. Again she wore a different face. The last thing they needed was the Hand getting an idea of who she was. Made talking to her feel odd, though. Even her eyes were a different color.

"Can't be any worse than when you had to make eyes at Roxxon." He checked up on him when he got back. Bastard was still in a maximum security hospital under watch from a few former S.H.I.E.L.D agents. Apparently whatever he was doing to himself withdrawal wasn't pretty. It'd take a while to get him on trial considering half of his body was goop and he could barely move.

Gwen bit her lower lip then sighed, "I know I told you that I wouldn't be so...me, but it really doesn't help when you and MJ go and do stupid shit then tell me I should just sit back and watch."

"Murakami isn't the type to set a trap like this. Couldn't live with himself afterwards." He blew out a smoky breath, "But that's why you're here, right? I go there and we talk. He's alone and I can see what he wants. He's not then you swoop in. Nothing he can do can hurt you." That really grinded the Hand's gears. Centuries being the top dog secret society and now freaks who got 'lucky' like him and Gwen.

Gao was right about one thing: he was an outsider. Here he was, some kid who got brought back from the dead because of some giant spider, and because of Matt he decided the whole Hand needed to be buried. Lifetimes of war with the Chaste and it was some teenager with a bunch of other vigilantes that did their boss in. And unlike their boss he'd make sure they'd get Hell instead of disappearing.

"...If you're sure." She sighed again, "I'll be on that bench over there. Gimme the signal if you think something's up."

"Right. Wish me luck."

Peter took a long, slow drag of the coffin nail and walked like he was being marched to his execution. It felt stupid looking at it objectively. Murakami had no powers and even with his training and chi they were more or less evenly matched. But that wasn't what made him dangerous. The Fingers were all opportunists, quick to run and hide behind their disposable goons. But not Murakami. Stick warned him before that more than anything what made Murakami dangerous was that he didn't fear death. If it meant accomplishing his goals then he wouldn't hesitate to throw himself into the hail.

And right now all that old bastard wanted to do was kill him.

"...This seat taken?" he asked sarcastically. Murakami didn't look up and Peter took that as a cue to sit down across from him. Set across the table were two plates filled with sushi and a pair of cups with the unmistakable scent of sake inside. He wasn't much a fan of it. Tasted too sweet and always felt like it stuck to his throat after.

"Spider-Man," he looked up and said in Japanese. Well, there went Gwen's hopes on eavesdropping, "You did not come alone."

"You expected me to?" he asked back. Japanese was still rough but the last thing he cared about now was how his accent sounded, "I'm not an idiot, Murakami. The last time you said we'd fight one-on-one Gao dragged you away on your knees."

The right side of his mouth twitched but apart from that he looked calm despite the insult, "...Drink." He took one of the sake cups while Peter sniffed at it his own warily, "i did not poison it. Your sixth sense would have warned you."

"Can't be too sure with you four. Anything to get an advantage, right?" He drank the fermented alcohol down and set the cup down with a grimace. He was making him mad. Mad meant honest. Harder to lie when all you could think about was how much you wanted to strangle the person in front of you.

Murakami grunted and set his own glass down, "I will not poison a man as he eats." That was the truth, if his spider-sense's silence was any indication, "In time's past enemies met before battle as a sign of respect."

"Respect? That's what you feel about me?" He scoffed. He wasn't a fan of all this honor and tradition show and tell. The people he fought didn't fight fair and neither did he. Even Gwen, for all her offers of surrender and avoiding a fight, wasn't afraid to hit someone in the back or kick them between the legs if that was what it took. He never saw the point on handicapping yourself in a fight just to make yourself look better.

"I know I do not wish for you to fall prey to Gao's machinations."

"You're just sour cause that means you lost and you'll never be able to fix that if I bite it."

He wasn't surprised Murakami went behind her back like this. From what he gathered the Fingers weren't exactly one big happy family. Funny enough a group of power hungry sociopaths didn't prioritize friendship. Once they got the power they wanted it didn't take them long to size each other up as competition. Stick 'joked' once that over the centuries the closest a Finger ever came to dying was when another made a power play.

"Perhaps." He picked up the chopsticks and ate the sushi. Peter held back a sigh and, after stubbing out his cigarette on the nearby ashtray, followed his lead. As stupid as this looked and felt, Murakami had a reason to bring him out here and it wasn't just to eat raw fish. Whatever it was he'd play along.

"Peter, what the hell's happening? Why are you speaking Japanese and eating sushi?" Gwen chimed into his implanted communicator. He didn't say anything and kept his eye trained on the meal. Murakami knew he wasn't alone but there wasn't any point in drawing attention to himself, "...Alright, cool, you're eating with your arch-enemy. I'll just sit here with my thumb up my ass."

He resisted the urge to tell her Murakami was hardly her 'arch-enemy' when the man himself spoke up, "This fish is poor." He frowned, "I have not had decent sushi in years."

"Wouldn't know. Not a fan of the whole raw fish thing." Or even the whole eating thing. It wasn't just Gwen who gave him a hard time for it. Cindy and Lana kept calling him a zombie. Like he was some kind of voodoo slave or something...then again that might've been accurate, "What's wrong? Not a fan of New York cuisine?"

"The food here is...repulsive." The imagine of Murakami lined up in a restaurant almost made him laugh. Almost.

"It's not that bad. I'm partial to the pizza." He took another bite of the sushi and made a small noise. While he wasn't a connoisseur or anything it tasted a hell of a lot better than that trash he had back in Madripoor with Cin and...and Bullseye. His grip on the chopsticks tightened. He doubted Murakami had anything to do with that personally but he still felt like punching him in the face.

"Why are you fighting us?" The (really) old man asked suddenly. Peter raised a brow and didn't say anything, "I have fought the Chaste for many lifetimes. I understand their hate. But you I do not."

"You know Gao asked me the same thing while we were on the raft." Peter's smile was open and nasty. Through his comm line he heard Gwen made a noise of worry, "And I'll tell you the same thing. Matt started this fight and I'm going to finish it."

"You finished it a year ago when you killed the Beast."

"Funny you talk like that. Don't mind me killing your boss?"

"No. Unlike the rest of them I do not fear what awaits."

"Then let me ask you something. Why did you join the Fingers?" Stick told him the rough story. The Hand were all members of the Chaste before they got too greedy. Decided that they deserved the power while the rest of the Chaste could burn, "If you're not scared of dying then why try so hard to stay alive all these centuries?"

"Just because I don't fear death doesn't mean I crave it. You would not sacrifice to stay alive but would you not fight if someone attempted to take your life."

"Dying of old age and getting shot in the face are different, Murakami." Peter sneered. What was with immortals and philosophizing? Could've just gotten straight to the point, "And we're not talking hypotheticals here. You worked with the rest of your group and a made a deal with the devil for immortality. You don't get to excuse yourself by talking like it's all some made up scenario."

"I sought power, not immortality. The Beast gave us eternal life because that was what the rest sought." So even back then there wasn't any love lost. No surprise there, And now that you've taken our former patron they have become more desperate than ever. Bakuto attempts another deal with yet another who would enslave him while Sowande is willing to use any and all of this city's mad creations to extend his life. All while Gao watches, eager to pounce as soon as they find something worthwhile."

"But not you?"

"No. Immortality is of no use as a slave or a monster twisted by science." Huh. That was...almost admirable. Almost made him forget that the guy had a body count that would've made Castle blush.

"...Why are we here, Murakami. You didn't come here to convince me to stop. That's not your style."

"Sowande escaped your grasp. I know where he is and I will tell you." Peter narrowed his eyes. Even with his spider-sense's incessant quiet he still found himself looking for any signs of lying on that leathered, wrinkled face. Nothing, "He is attempting to weaponize the serum you created along with other such abominations in order to make himself powerful. He believes that he become as strong as Spider-Woman."

"He's trying to create a symbiote..." That was...nightmarish. The last thing he wanted was someone like Gwen or Mary leading the Hand, "...I'm definitely interested, but what's your deal here? I know you guys don't exactly get along but why offer him up to us like this?"

"Because Sowande and the rest have lost sight of who they was. They has become so desperate to stave off death that they would let themselves be enslaved by another demon or turn themselves into one of the abominations of science that plague this city." The Hand hated the Gifted, but it was more an issue of practicality. Hard to be the top dog illuminati when someone who got lucky could shoot fire out of their hands and put all that training to waste.

Murakami was different. He hated them to his core the same way prey hated its predator. Like Stick he thought they were cheats who stumbled onto power rather than earning it. The irony of someone who made a deal with a demon for his gifts was lost on him.

"You realize I'm one of those abominations too. Why make a deal with me instead of Moon Knight or Rand?"

"Because you killed the Beast. Regardless of your origins you have proven yourself and cut his strings." That was...flattering, "The Chaste are failures. Even with this information they would not be able to stop Sowande any more than they have in the past centuries. And you know this serum better than anyone. You created it, after all."

"...Point." Still wasn't sure if he agreed with that last part sometimes. He'd probably die without ever settling on just who exactly he was. He could live with it, "You still haven't told me what you want for this. You're not the free giving type."

"I want one thing: a duel between the two of us." Again, Peter almost laughed. What else could he expect? To someone like Murakami money and control were just a means to an end. No matter how long he lived he was still that meatheard that wanted to prove he could outpunch anyone without any help. And now that Murakami lost to him Peter was his next obsession. Murakami called it honorable. Stick called it pride. Peter called it stupid.

"That's it? In exchange for going mano-e-mano you'll let us cut off Sowande's neck?"

"Yes. Do you accept?"

"I'd be an idiot to say no." He drank the last of the sake and set the cup down with a loud thud, "Once we finish Murakami give Teresa another message for the time and place. One way or the other it'll end."

"Agreed." He pulled a slip out paper out of his breast pocket and handed it to him. Peter scanned through it quickly and saw half a dozen addresses scattered around the city, "He has hired numerous scientists to reverse-engineer your creation. He is on the cusp of a breakthrough at the first address so you will need to stop him before then. I don't care how you do it. Once I hear of your victory I shall send my message."

"Peter was almost tempted to reach out across the table and snap the old bastard's neck or even call Gwen over to haul him in. He didn't. No point in making a scene here and he needed to kill Murakami, not just put him in prison. Last time he went to the bighouse it didn't end so well, "...Thanks." Felt like he swallowed something sour forcing the words out.

He stood up and turned to leave when he suddenly said, "You did not answer my question." Peter looked back without a word, "Why are you fighting us? We would have left you in peace had you not continued to involve yourself in this conflict."

Peter laughed under his breath, "You know what? I'll tell you when we meet again. See you later, Murakami." He waved and walked away without looking back. It didn't take him long after he left the park for Gwen to slide up next to him like she'd never left, "Hey. Sorry for the wait."

"I'll say. You went full weeb so much I wondered if my phone glitched and I was watching anime." She rolled her eyes and bumped her right shoulder to his left, "What the hell happened back there? All I got was you saying bye-bye to your arch-enemy."

"He's not my arch-enemy." He handed her the slip, "He told me about what Sowande was planning. He's reverse-engineering the Lizard serum to try and make up for the 'blessings' he lost last year." He already had an inkling considering those mercs were just test subjects. Still, knowing it outright made him angry in a way he couldn't explain. That damn serum always found some way to get back at them.

"And in exchange he wanted you to accept his friend request?"

"He wants a fight. Just me and him, no stop till the other one dies." Okay so he didn't use those exact words but he was smart enough to figure that's what he wanted. To her credit Gwen didn't stop in shock though her eyes did narrow, "...What?"

"So in exchange for giving you this info he wants a freaking blood duel? Am I getting that right?"

"More or less."

"Uh-huh...hold on a sec, I'll be right back."

"I wouldn't bother. He's long gone by now." He grabbed her hand just in case. Even if she was stronger than him it was enough to keep her still, "It'll be fine. I fought him before and I would've won if Gao hadn't stuck her nose in. He was just as pissed about that as I was. Once we finish Sowande he'll give us the "

"Wait, you're seriously going along with this?" she asked back incredulously, "Here's a plan. Just tell me where the meeting's gonna be and I'll kick his ass and drag him off to prison. It'll take maybe ten minutes tops."

"Murakami's a stubborn relic but he's not dumb. I doubt it'll be that easy. Besides, he's not going to jail." Gwen winced slightly at that. Peter didn't say anything and just looked up at the dull gray sky. Looks like it was raining soon, "It'll be fine," he said again, "Let's deal with one thing at a time. These addresses first. Could you call Cin and get her to check these places out with the cops? Lana and Mary too." Not everyone needed to die. Just the heads of the snake.

"Got it. Should I go with you?"

"...No, it's alright. I'll be working with the rest of the clown brigade." She frowned at that, "...Better if people don't see Spider-Woman hanging around the Defenders. Good press can only excuse so much." Sowande was dying. No need to shoot him in the face in front of her.

"Alright. Me and the rest of the group will take one each, but that still leaves one place open."

"I'll call Castle. It's the reason he came back to town." Still surprised he didn't shoot Matt as soon as he saw him. Even for an angel Page could work miracles, "We do this right and Sowande won't have anywhere to run." They couldn't just stop at the first site and kill him. If they left the other five sites alone it was likely Gao or Bakuto could salvage something. They needed to finish this.

"Guess that's it. See you later?"

"Definitely."

It didn't take long to gather the team at one of Moon Knight's safehouses and get them up to Matt and Rand looked intrigued that he just had a 'lunch date' with one of the Fingers while Spector looked wary. Echo, as always, stood in the corner with her arms crossed and didn't utter a single word. He didn't have any idea how the others even contacted her. Far as he knew she always just showed up the second they had a meeting.

"This seems too convenient," Spector said, "What guarantee would we have that this Murakami is trustworthy."

"Stick told me all about him. He's definitely not the kind of guy to try and set a trap," Rand said, "And he said he wanted to fight Spider-Man in a duel so that puts it more on it being legit. He can't have his fight if Peter dies."

"Indeed. Murakami is a creature of pride more than anything. Honor demands that he ensure Peter will survive till their next rematch. Though, I am curious about something, Peter. I'm surprised you didn't shoot Murakami at the end of the meeting given your disparaging of such a belief."

"We were in a public park, Matt. Last thing we need is to draw attention to ourselves by an old man getting shot in the brainpan."

"Perhaps you're simply more honorable than you believe?"

"Honor goes out the window when the person you're killing is responsible for thousands of innocent deaths." He scoffed, "Point is he's offering himself and Sowande up on a silver platter and I don't see any point in drawing attention beforehand. If Gao or the other Fingers here that one of their own got offed in a park they're gonna run and hide like the cockroaches they are. That's the last thing we need."

Matt looked like he was going to say something when Echo walked towards the table and slammed her hand down the center, "..." She looked each of them in turn, eyes hard, though they did soften slightly when they landed on Rand. He was gonna ignore that, "..." She nudged her head to the door, grabbed her katana and walked till she was the doorway. She looked back and grunted.

"...Guess she wants to get it over with," Rand chuckled awkwardly.

"Let's go before she kills us instead," Peter muttered. It was only half a joke.

A quick scan of the building with one of Moon Knight's drones led them to the basement guarded by mercenaries. The same mercenaries from before. Anvil Security...if he had time he might investigate them. Needed to make sure they were just goons for hire instead of something deeper.

The rest of the group mopped up the remaining mercenaries while Peter went for the only room at the end of the wide hall. He heard someone scrambling inside, "Time to finish this..." Gripping the pistol, he kicked the door down and saw a scientist scrambling around the room gathering materials with his back turned towards him. Easy enough. Peter walked closer and pressed the pistol to the back of his head, "Don't move."

The man put his hands up shakily. Peter grabbed his shoulder and turned him around only to nearly drop his gun when he saw the face that greeted him.

"...Dr. Connors?"


"Finally finished..."

Mary Jane wiped the sweat from her forehead and sat next to Mary in the dressing room. The modeling schedules were getting more and more hectic. Half an hour sitting on her butt while the make-up artists caked her face with just the right amount of tasteful lipstick and shadow. More than once she had to resist the urge to tell them she could just change her face to whatever she wanted.

It was becoming way harder to balance her time. Between the modeling gig, classes and her 'side-job' she had to quit her work at the theater. Brad was pretty bummed about it. She went on a date with him a while ago but they weren't exactly official or anything. It was just...off. He was a perfectly nice guy and there was nothing wrong with him, but...

A normal date felt wrong after all she'd been through. Probably didn't help that she brutalized (but didn't kill, despite Crimson's whining) a mercenary with ties to the Maggia's trafficking ring. His big guns didn't do him much good once she broke his fingers...

"...MJ, are you listening?"

"Huh?" She shook her head and gave Mary an apologetic smile, "Oh, sorry. Nodded off for a sec there. What were you saying?"

"I was asking if you wanted to go hang out with me and Marsha this weekend."

"Oh, um..." Was she? Murdock told her he'd be busy with something else and Felicia was working with Cindy on a case. But she did have to catch up on classes and Gwen might ask to team up to see how she was doing. Busy, busy, busy. God, was this what Gwen felt like all these years? Somewhere at the back of her mind she was laughing at the karma.

"It's fine if you're busy. No big deal."

"No, no. It's just..." Mary Jane sighed scratched her head, "Sorry. The past few days have been...pretty hectic lately." Crimson muttered something and she mentally told it to shut up. Even after they (kinda) made peace it still didn't like the whole modeling thing. If they wanted money why didn't they just take from the people they beat down? It wasn't any worse than leaving them twitching on the floor. Mary Jane didn't really have an argument for that.

"More of your...other job?"

"Kinda. It's more that my other job is really cutting into my school time. Can't really afford to flunk."

'Why not? It's not as if a job will matter compared to our current goal.'

'You shut it.' Mary Jane forced a smile. Thinking about the future was not something she wanted to go to right now. The longevity of being a serial killer vigilante wasn't exactly at the front of her mind. And she wasn't the only one. Cindy and Gwen had their whole Avengers thing but what about Tiger and the other vigilantes that didn't have a government safety net? How long could they really keep this up?

They left out of the back and walked around aimlessly after grabbing some milkshakes. She had a a few minutes to kill

"Um...could I ask you something?" She neglected to point out she already was and shrugged, "What's it like? Being a hero?"

"...You might be better off asking someone like Spider-Woman about that." Maybe it was pretentious but she didn't like calling herself that. She was less an Avenger and more like the Defenders, "I'm a vigilante, not a superhero. There's a difference."

"You saved me twice. That counts as a hero in my book."

"It wasn't a big deal. It's not like it was hard." She could spit out bullets and punch through walls. A normal person giving out a grand to charity was huge. A millionaire doing the same wasn't, "It's just...it's not a big thing, yeah? I was there and I helped out. Call me back when I start fighting legit supervills." The last time she fought anyone superpowered was that clusterfuck at the hospital.

"If you say so..." She kicked a rock down the sidewalk, "...What's Black Cat like?"

"Not even close to what you think." Mary Jane scoffed, "Don't let the leather and cat theme fool you, Felicia can be a vindictive little bitch. I ever tell you about the time she strangled me with a mic cord a few years ago?" That and she wasn't the best 'benefit friend'. Sure she was good, but she was also pushy and insisted on being on top every time. Mary Jane dealt with it. She'd had worse.

"You don't mean that."

"Oh really? Trust me, M, under the mask we're all people. And people aren't nearly as pretty when the masks are off." God, when did she get so cynical? Oh yeah, about a few dozen murders ago, "No one's perfect, not even Spider-Woman. I know that firsthand." She wondered how many of Gwen's fans would've been disappointed once they found out Gwen was just as prone to making mistakes as the rest of them?

"It...must be nice, knowing so many of them. Heroes, I mean." There was an unreadable look on her face. Mary Jane couldn't quite place it and before she could ask the other redhead smiled again, "How did you meet them, anyway? Always wondered if all the heroes had each other on speed dial."

"Nothing like that. I knew Felicia even before she became the Black Cat and Tig- uh, Spider-Man is or was Peter Parker so we went to school together." Not that they were ever actually friends or anything. She always considered him (and Harry) to be Gwen's +1 and never paid him any mind back then. Even when they were neighbors and both her mom and May tried to set them up it never worked out.

She was definitely having some regret on that.

"What about Spider-Woman?"

"I met her through Spider-Man," she lied easily. Just cause Mary was a friend didn't mean she was gonna expose Gwen like that, "It was actually kinda awkward considering the whole, you know, Spider thing. Thought she'd be pissed I was calling myself that when I wasn't bitten by a radioactive spider like her."

"You weren't? I thought...wait, you have the same powers as her."

"Not really. It's...I guess you could say I'm copying her." She looked around to make sure no one was around before she shot a line of blood red 'webbing' to her left palm, "It's not webs like the stuff Spider-Woman has. It's more like...I guess the best way to say it is it's like my hair. The suit I'm wearing is like this big blob and I can 'shape' it if I focus. It's how I can do this." She turned the tip of her right pointer finger into a crimson claw before quickly shifting it back to normal.

"A suit? So could you take it off?"

"Nope. Believe me, I've tried. That ship's sailed."

'Don't act like you don't enjoy what I give you.'

"How did you even get it? Can't imagine you just stumbled into it in an alley."

'Oh, you have no idea.' Crimson laughed at the back of her mind and she ignored it, "Guess I just got lucky." She shrugged in what she hoped looked casual, "Either way I'm stuck with it and then I got roped into that whole thing with Spinerette's evil twin last year. Been doing this ever since." Wasn't the most honest but it was accurate enough. Aside from the whole serial killer thing.

Their chat was cut short when her phone pinged and she got a message from Cindy, "Hm..."

"Something wrong?"

"Kinda." She closed the message, "Spinny just texted. Said that one of the girls we're working with went missing and that their parents just called in."

"Is it Avril?" Mary asked back with a weak smile.

"Sadly, no." Mary Jane sighed exaggeratedly, "Says here it's one Missy Alderman. She figured I could check it out first, maybe see if I could get some dirt before it turned into a whole police manhunt thing."

"Guessing that's a no on the hangout then?"

"Uh...lemme get back to you on that." Yep, this is definitely how Gwen felt back then.

She swung over to where the Aldermans lived to get the details from them. They were definitely surprised when she showed up, "S-Scarlet Spider?" Mr. Alderman - a tall man with peach skin and blonde hair - said as soon as she opened the door. Mary Jane waved somewhat awkwardly and followed the family patriarch inside. Their place was pretty small by Manhattan standards but that didn't mean much. Still bigger than her and Gwen's old apartment.

"Scarlet Spider! It's Scarlet Spider!" Two voices suddenly screamed. Mary Jane was nearly bowled over - okay, not really - when two kids - a 10 year old girl and a 7 year old boy - practically tackled her asking for autographs and pictures.

Mrs Alderman - a shorter, heavyset woman with dark skin and even darker hair - peeked her head out of the kitchen and was just as surprised to see her, was almost She quickly ushered the two children - a 10 year old girl and a 7 year old boy - back to their rooms while they continued to jabber on, "Sorry about that,' she said quickly, "We weren't expecting a superhero to show up. We thought...well, police."

Mary Jane sat on the couch, "Spinerette sent me a message. Apparently it ended up on her desk somehow. Is this Supervillain related?"

"I hope not." Mr. Alderman let out a held breath and sat on the couch, "But...we have reason to think that our daughter's had...dealings with the Serpent Skulls."

"Serpent Skulls..." Yeah, that'd do it. Ever since Lana and Sue Storm outed them as Terrigen suppliers they got bumped up the priority list, "Wait, what do you mean 'dealings'?"

"We think she's trying to buy some of that terrible mist," Mrs. Alderman said, "She...She said that the other models at her work were better than her and she thought she was going to get fired if she didn't find a way to draw attention to herself. We told her it was crazy but she was so convinced. The next day she was gone and she wasn't answering her phone. None of her friends said they've seen her either."

"Mist...I hate to say this, but even if we do find her she'll probably get in trouble for this. Dealing with gangs, especially to get the Terrigen Mist, doesn't exactly look good." Hah, like she was one to talk about following the law.

"We...We understand that, but it's better than her being missing," Mr. Alderman said, "Please, she's not a bad girl. She just...thinks that she should take the world on her shoulders."

"Yeah, I know someone else like that." She crossed her right leg over her left and frowned, "I'll do my best, but I should warn you that this isn't an official investigation. Spinerette just asked me for a favor before anything police related could happen. If I find your daughter before then, great, but I don't want to get your hopes up. I'm just one person."

"Of course. Just...please do your best." Mrs. Alderman nodded.

Mary Jane left out the window - he'd never call Gwen rude for doing that again - and swung up to the roof, 'Why are we wasting time with this?' Crimson growled. Mary Jane ignored it, 'We have more important things to worry about than an idiot girl that's probably already gotten herself killed.'

'Oh would you stop whining? This is a give and take, Crimson.' She pulled out her phone and hesitated when she saw Lana's number. Cindy told to exchange numbers in case something ever came up but she'd never actually called Lana before. She was friends with Gwen and Peter and she was cool with Cindy, but she'd never actually talked to Lana one-on-one before. She was more Peter and Cindy's friend than her's.

But the Serpents were her baddies, so...

Lana answered after the third ring, "Watson? What's up?"

"Need your help with something." She swung up to a crane on a nearby construction site and walked along the beam. She didn't even realize she'd done it, "Spinny asked me to investigate a girl that went missing and according to her parents she tried to buy some Mist from the Serpent Skulls. You've been fighting those guys more than any of us so we figured you could help me out? Maybe gimme a lead on where to go?"

"I'll do you one better. Class is over so I can meet up. You cool with a team-up?"

"U-Uh, sure." Well, this went different than how she expected. At best she was expecting a nudge in the right direction.

She met up with Lana in front of her school. A few of the milling schoolgirls gawked when they saw her but they didn't get a chance to ask questions on what the hell she was doing there before a stream of light jumped from the second floor window and Lana zipped to her, "Hey." She waved with two fingers. Her costume looked different. Black and white with no other colors while her trenchcoat was replaced with a jacket.

"...Nice suit."

"Heh, thanks. Gayle made it. Said that she wanted me to test it out." She shrugged lightly, "Anyway, you said you wanted to check out the Skulls, yeah? I heard about a hideout they have half an hour from here. We get lucky and we can find your girl."

"Sure. Lead the way."

Mary Jane landed on the rooftop across the hideout when they arrived. Behind her Lana ran up the wall and landed, arms still sparkling with bright yellow energy, "...Sorry. Powers still act up sometimes." She shook both hands to get rid of the annoying flashes.

"You okay?"

"Huh? No, it's cool. Just need to get used to the whole crime fighting thing again. A coma and overprotective friends'll do that to you." She smirked and knelt down next to her, "Anyway, I got a guy who knows a guy who told me the Skulls are using this place as a new base." She pointed to the back entrance where, sure enough, there were a few guys with skulls jackets handing out packets, "Stupid assholes don't even take off their jackets. Thinks it makes em look hard."

"So...do we just go in and start beating skulls in till one of them talks?"

'Sounds good to me. Least this way it won't be a total waste of time.'

"We could try asking nicely first." She pointed at the dealers, "First we'll ask the dealers. Pretty sure they'll say no and tell us to go fuck ourselves. Then we'll insist and then they'll pull out guns cause they haven't got the memo that you're bulletproof and that I can heal from getting my head exploded. Then we have to beat up everyone inside but at least we can say self-defense cause we were trying to stop the dealers."

"You sound...really sure of that."

"Call it like I see it." She clicked her tongue and winked. Mary Jane had to remind herself that the other girl was still a teenager and it should've been weird that she was treating this so casually, "Oh, and could you not kill anyone? Trust me none of these guys are avoiding jailtime. Turns out the government really doesn't like it when a gang decides to sell power packs. Makes them real nervous."

'Killjoy.'

It went...exactly like Lana said. The dealers pulled out guns, the rest of the bar heard the gunshots and suddenly they were in a free-for-all clusterfuck. Weird part was that it wasn't 2 on 20. Some of the guys inside were so drunk they ended up clobbering their own gangmates instead of them. Mary Jane felt bad knocking them out, though she did make sure to be gentle.

Lana fought different than Felicia and Murdock. Felicia was all flips and grace while Matt was brutality and pain. Lana was quick, zipping between the different gangers and shooting at any that tried to get a shot off. She could definitely see how she managed to keep up with the Defenders last year.

"Scarlet, heads up!" Mary Jane ducked and Lana shot a beam over her head to the Skull charging at her with a bat. Mary Jane quickly returned to the favor and snagged someone aiming their pistol at her back. Mary Jane tugged and, with a loud scream, the guy flew through the air before she flipped, kicking him in the chest and slammed him down to the floor with a painful thud. Those capoeira vids were coming in handy.

"Nice one, huh?"

"Eh, 7 out of 10. Cin did it better."

They finished up the rest of the gang till they were the only two left standing. Mary Jane's heart beat wildly and she panted, less out of fatigue and more out of excitement. It felt...she didn't know how to describe it. With Felicia and Murdock there wasn't any problems when it came to a fight but there was definitely tension. Mary Jane still remembered when she and Felicia didn't get along and what Matt (or his demon buddy) did to Peter and Gwen. With Lana it felt like one of those hero team-ups her sister loved to read about.

"Looks like that's all of em." Lana shook her hands. Whatever her powers were they kept the clothes from being shot up even though she definitely took a couple of bullets, "Guess we just gotta ask one of them when they wake up. You wanna be good cop or bad cop?"

"Bad cop, I guess? I'm kinda rusty on the whole good cop deal."

"And you think I'm not?" she snorted, "Fine, we'll do it your way. Ugh, this is gonna suck."

One of the Skulls woke up a few minutes before anyone else. Mary Jane kept him tied to the ceiling with a web cocoon wrapped around him while Lana walked down below with a smile, "Hey, buddy." He screamed. Well, that was what she expected. Lana winched at the high shriek and plugged her ears, "Woof, nice pair of lungs you got there. Hope it means you know what we're asking."

Again he screamed. Mary Jane grit her teeth and tugged on the string cocoon till his head almost hit the ceiling, "Start talking." She growled. The eyes of her mask moved, shifting in a chaotic jumble and probably making the guy piss himself.

"What my friend means is you just need to tell us what we wanna know and we can all be friends," Lana said, "Scarlet?"

"Here." She lowered him down till his feet almost touched the floor and showed him the picture she got from the Aldermans, "We heard that this girl might've been trying to buy Mist from you chuckleheads. Tell me where she is before I lose my patience." The bottom of her mask split open to a row of teeth and a long tongue covered in thick strands of saliva.

"I-I dunno where she is!" He looked away and, yep, she definitely smelled pee. Great, "Sh-She did buy Mist from us, yeah, but someone else took her! Paid us and everything, that's all I know."

"Who is this guy? Come on, skullsy, you're close."

"Dunno his name! He was a weird guy in a labcoat. Freaky hair, goggle, mad scientist shit! He had a few guys with him, big guys with suits. Looked like mercs or something. Please, that's all I know."

"...I think he's telling the truth," Lana said.

"Yeah." The bottom of Mary Jane's mask shifted back to normal and she let him drop to the ground. She needed a shower, "Looks like I'm gonna have to tell the Aldermans the bad news..." She knew this was the likeliest conclusion. It still sucked. She knelt down in front of the guy and he shrunk back, "These guys in suits, anything you know about them besides being mercs?"

"I...I dunno, I think I heard the creepy guy call em Anvil or Steel or somethin'."

"That's a start. Come on, I'll call Cin and we can get this mess cleaned up," Lana said.

They were long gone by the time the police arrived. Right now they were sitting on an apartment roof with a sub for each of them. Crimson groused about the meat not being raw enough, "That went well enough," Lana said through a mouthful of food. She wasn't gonna tell her to mind her manners, "Bet this'll piss that bitch Diamondback off and you got a lead too. Win-win."

"Not much of one. Guys in suits with Crazy Toons names? I'll be lucky if I can find her alive." She took a big bite of her own sub and frowned, "And why would she be taken anyway? Was it just random or was she taken specifically?"

"I dunno, but I could help if you want."

"...You don't mind?"

"Sure, why not?" She shrugged, "Seems like these Iron guys and that scientist are connected to the Skulls and anything that fucks em over I'm all in. Just hit me up if you ever wanna do a team-up and I'll tell you if I'm free. Gotta balance with school and all."

"How do you do it? Balance, I mean? I'm kinda lagging behind here."

"You get used to it." She shrugged, "I'm not saying it's easy, but you find your groove at some point. In my case it helps that I can skip out on classes if something urgent comes up. Doesn't help when I have to play catch up, though."

"Yeah, well, something tells me my prof isn't gonna excuse me to go do my side-job." She smiled wryly, "...You ever think about what you're gonna be doing in the future? I mean you're going to college in like a year or two."

"All the time. Cap says maybe I could join the Avengers when I officially turn 18, and I'm sure William would just love that, but...I'm wondering if there's something else I can do besides the hero thing. Before I got my powers all I cared about was getting a job so I could pay the bills, didn't matter what it was. Now I've actually got a chance to do whatever I want and I dunno what the fuck I'm supposed to do."

"Before I got tugged with Crimson I was hoping to be a world famous rockstar. Get my face up on billboards and go on world tours like Taylor Swift or Ariana Grande. Now that just feels so...impossible. Stupid." She forced a smile, "Sorry, I shouldn't be unloading on you."

"I don't mind. Most people treat me like a kid so it's nice to have someone lean on you. Just don't call me at midnight crying your boyfriend dumped you. I will hang up on you."

"Noted."

Both of their phones rang. Mary Jane checked her screen and saw a group message from Gwen. She read through it quickly. Peter's ninja illuminati guys, the Lizard serum and a place for each of them to hit, "Looks like Pete's in trouble again." Lana finished off her sandwich and stood, "Guess the team-up's over."

"Yeah. Thanks for this."Mary pocketed the phone and put her mask back on. Time to get to work.


Fimbulwinter: So I wonder, what do other heroes think about heroes?

Reply from Zhwival: Dutchman here. They're pretty niche here since they never really deployed here. Most of my friends kinda just know them vaguely.

Reply from Tomo-san: Japanese. Avengers are very popular, especially Spider-Woman and Hawkeye. I know people don't like Spinerette because she's Korean. No one likes the Defenders either apart from delinquents since they use stuff like guns and drones. I think the one with the sword is okay though.

Reply from STALKER: Russian speaking. Pretty much the opposite of Japanese. Avengers are pretty tenuous, especially Captain America. A lot of my college classmates really like the Defenders though.

Reply from Ladyblog: France is super big fans of the Avengers! Not sure about the Defenders but some people do like Spider-Man since he helped our very own heroes ;)

Reply from PrometheusAborted: German here. Not sure how popular they are but the Avengers toys do sell for a lot here. My nephew asked for a Spider-Man action figure for his birthday.

Reply from baulrog76: Makes sense. Spider-Man really hates Nazis and the other one is apparently back home killing Hitler :D


Next chapter will have the finale for Sowande and signal the Fingers finally getting their teeth kicked in. Ditto Mary Jane and Lana's plotlines with Mr Hyde and the Serpent Skulls, respectively.

On a side note some people seem to want Scott as Ant-Man but I feel like that kills the whole dichotomy between him and Silver. He's supposed to be the struggling single dad to contrast the rebel prince.

Review answers:

rc48177 - Lana does regular teenage stuff: social media, youtube, hang out with friends etc etc. Noir tends to read books, though he has less free time.

Tricksterverse - I'll try but it's hard to give Danny dialogue.

Newpcforgotpass: It's fine with me so far. Don't like how weak Thor and Hulk seem in gameplay though. Mjolnir feels like a nerfbat.

Dr. Sugarcakes - What coming dating app?

Esquire-Man - Hopefully this chapter was better.

ToastyIce - Not sure about Scott but leaning towards no, though he is still connected to that plot.