A late Merry Christmas and early Happy New Years everyone :) Hopefully everyone's alright as we end this...hectic year. Bit of a shorter update than normal but I just wanted to put out something between Cyberpunk 2077 and other games I'm playing.
Oh, and Gwenom vs Carnage is releasing next month so hopefully I can get some inspiration for how a canon Carnage Mary Jane would look and act like.
Greenie: DarkSpider, could I ask a somewhat personal question?
reply from DarkSpider: Get feeling you're going to no matter what I say.
reply from Greenie: What's your take on religion? I mean you helped kill a demon and you died twice. You have a better view than most people.
reply from DarkSpider: Don't think much of it one way or the other. I don't pray or go to church any more than when I dealt with Matt a year ago.
reply from QueenASMR: Why not? You know God and the devil exist. Most people would stop doubting after that.
reply from DarkSpider: Just cause they exist doesn't mean I gotta spend my life kissing their feet. God didn't come down and bring out a load of angels to smite the Beast, did he?
reply from Pendji: Ooh, question of my own! During Arcade's death game you didn't seem surprised. You even told Iron Fist that you were all wearing explosive collars. How did you know that?
reply from DarkSpider: Wasn't my first time going through something like that.
reply from Pendji: And?
reply from DarkSpider: What?
reply from Pendji: Details! You gonna give us some?!
reply from DarkSpider: No.
reply from Pendi: Why not?!
reply from DarkSpider: Because I don't want to.
reply from pomarril: Huh...I'm surprised you're answering questions at all. Thought you hated social media?
reply from DarkSpider: I do, but I promised Spider-Woman I'd play nice. Doesn't mean I'll answer just because you demand though.
Gabriel's place was a little nook near ESU. Nothing fancy, and it definitely looked just a tad too small for something three people were sharing, but as Gabriel himself said he rarely ever spent a long time here anyway. A lot of the time he was out doing his own thing. Peter didn't bother to ask how he had enough time for that and school. Didn't want to seem like a fussing nag.
"Uh, sit anywhere you want." Peter sat down on the couch while Gabriel pulled out an old laptop from his room and sat next to him. He'd been here less than two years but he'd gotten to know just how fast technology moved. What was cutting edge could be seen as dated and useless in just a week's time. The laptop Gabriel pulled was firmly in the latter category. Even he could tell that it was something that looked to be on its last legs, especially with the way the younger teen smacked it.
"Surprised no one's here," Peter said, resisting the urge to take off his mask. Much as he wanted to be more open the mask provided cover that he sorely needed. From what Gabriel told him he was rooming with Patillio and some other guy called Judge. Apparently they didn't even know each other aside from their names. Unspoken agreement that if he stayed out of their business then they'd stay out of his...at least until Patillio figured out he had Lana on speed dial. Then he was all smiles and trying to make friends.
"Huh? Oh, yeah. Judge had to go back home - family emergency or something - and Eugene said he had a team up with Scarlet Spider. He was really excited about it. You didn't know?"
"She's got her own life to worry about. I tend not to pry too deep." She did have his sympathies, though. Patillio wasn't a bad kid but he was hardly someone Peter would spend time with if he had the choice.
"Hope he's having fun, at least. He was super pumped up all night. Think he figures that it's his big break."
"We all have our delusions." Peter leaned forward and quickly scanned the pulled up documents. It'd take hours - days - to get through the whole thing. Hopefully they could at least find something to get them a headstart somewhere, "Whoever's selling these must be making a killing if they're willing to risk it." He'd seen the penalties. Even proven suspicion of bottling that Mist meant ten years in the big house.
"Mhm. When Lana's schoolmates got arrested for it they said it cost them 50 grand for just a small vial. And that was before it was customized for what they wanted." Gabriel put a hand on his chin, "But that doesn't explain the fight club. Even with high stakes bets there's no way it's worth it considering how expensive each hit is. Especially since the guy who took the Terrigen looked like he was about to have a heart attack."
"I don't think it's about the money. Least not for whoever's calling the shots. Doubt that chucklehead's the one getting the Mist." Peter clicked the next file, "I'm just guessing here but it might be a testing ground. Seems like this new Mist makes anyone who uses it keel over if they strain themselves. In a fight club they get idiots paying for the right to get their face caved in and no one looks twice as long as the money keeps flowing."
"Do you think that announcer knows?"
"Not sure. One thing I know about criminals is they don't hesitate to use each other. Wouldn't be surprised if that guy was just a patsy. Sell him on a story about how they'll never be caught but if and when the boys in blue raid the place guess who'll be holding the bag?" Peter sneered, "Got a good look at the guy. He ain't the scheming type. He's a pawn, problem is we have no idea who's pulling his strings."
"I checked around the place before I got the data. I didn't find a storage area of any kind and the Mist isn't something you put on a cupboard. You need specialized containers to make sure they don't leak."
"So you think he's getting deliveries for every vial of serum?" Gabriel nodded with a slight hum, "Right, then the big problem now is we need to know when and where those deliveries are." That was assuming they didn't deliver to the club directly. He didn't know how careful this supposed puppetmaster was, "Another lead we could follow is where they dump the bodies once the serum offs them. Doubt you can just toss a guy covered in rocks down the alley without drawing the wrong kinds of attention."
"Mhm. I'll check that out while you and Lana handle the deliveries. Afraid I can't help much there, sorry."
"Trust me, you're doing more than you think." Peter smiled, which Gabriel returned with one of his own. Before the younger teen could say anything else Peter pulled out a wristwatch and tossed it to him, "Well, if you're going to be sneaking around then you might need this."
"A...wristwatch? You know you can check times on your phones, right?"
"Right, never heard that crack before." Peter rolled his eyes and tapped the screen lit bright blue below the ticking hands, "See this? It lights up if there's light nearby and it's out if you're somewhere dark enough no one can see you. If you're smart then you're using the shadows to your advantage. Won't make you invisible but it'll give you a better sense of space."
"Huh...cool. Where'd you get it?"
"Moon Knight gave it to me when I lost my powers." Gabriel's brows furrowed, "Long story. Never actually got to use it but I kept it with me just in case." And because it might've hurt Moon Knight's feelings if he just tossed it in a cabinet somewhere, "Was thinking about giving it to Summers but I figure you can use it too considering how often you dangle your head on the noose."
"I...I don't do it that much..."
"I talk to Lana, you know? You definitely do it that much." Lana worried about the kid, much as she tried to deny it. He couldn't blame her. Gabriel had a bad habit of getting in over his head, "Speaking off, that tazer you had...that the only thing you use?"
"Uh...yeah, why?"
"Bad idea." He pulled out a spare pistol from his jacket and offered it to Gabriel with his hand lightly gripping the barrel. Gabriel's eyes widened and he scooched back like it was going to explode, "Don't worry, safety's on and there's no magazine." He learned firearms safety from Castle. For a mass murderer with a skull for a motif he was a career soldier to the end.
"I know that! It's just..." He bit his lip and looked down at the offered firearm, "I'm...I'm not sure if I could shoot someone."
"Might not have a choice. Second you started doing what you did you put your neck out and not everyone's gonna give you the same courtesy." He pressed the firearm to Gabriel's hands and looked him in the eyes, "If it comes down to them or you then it has to be you. You've spent time around Lana, you should know this." When he first met her she couldn't kill that bastard Carter. Now after everything she could make snap decisions. Someone might argue that it wasn't a good thing she ended up the way she did but it meant she was alive.
Gabriel bit his lower lip and, with a slow nod, took the small pistol with obvious reluctance. He raised the gun experimentally and aimed it down at the table, "I've never really fired a gun before..."
"I'll give you lessons when I have some free time." He adjusted Gabriel's grip and moved his head, "Remember, brace here and here and make sure not to aim unless you're damn sure you're ready to fire." He placed two magazines on the table, "I'll take you to a firing range I know but till then find some lessons on your own and make sure neither of your roommates see this. Best they don't ask any questions."
"Yeah, definitely. Judge is already leery cause of Eugene." He smiled weakly.
"Tell me when you're ready and don't use it till after I teach you. Last thing either of us need is you shooting yourself in the foot." Or the head. He was lucky; the Spider-God's memory transfer included his brother's lessons from Uncle Ben on how to use revolvers without shooting his eye out, "I'll get a silencer for that. Gun's a 22. caliber so it's quieter than most. Don't trust what movies and games tell you, these things are loud to anyone even halfway paying attention. Only use it when there's something that can muffle the gunshot." It was the reason he preferred getting up close and personal. Harder to hear someone getting choked when their mouth was covered.
"Got it." Gabriel nodded again. He looked less nervous than before.
Peter spent the next quarter of an hour drilling him in the same gun safety lessons that Castle gave him when the door suddenly opened, "Yo, Gabe!" Lana walked in like she owned the place with a blonde haired girl carrying a backpack following behind her. She stopped and raised a brow when she caught sight of him, "Huh...didn't expect to see you here. Lemme guess, Gabe needed rescuing again?"
"Hey!" Gabriel said. The slight smile on his face made it clear he didn't really take offense.
"Don't be mean, Lana." The blonde behind her said with a soft sigh. She looked vaguely familiar now that he got a closer look at her, "You were the one who insisted that we drop in to surprise him."
"Like you didn't wanna come and show him that new costume of yours. Guess it's just a coincidence that it clings to all the right places, huh?"
"Wh-What do you mean by that?!"
Peter cut in before it could devolve into an argument, "Friend of yours, Lana?"
Lana crossed her arms in a distinctly unimpressed way? "Really, Pete? Don't remember the people you save?" Peter didn't say anything and she sighed, "Sue Storm, remember? Saved her and her horny ass brother with Spider-Woman a year ago? Left me to do the babysitting?"
"Oh...yeah. It's good to see you're doing well." Last time he saw her she was flickering in and out.
"You too, Spider-Man." She smiled and bowed slightly. Peter didn't comment on that even he found that weird, "I never actually had the chance to thank you for helping us before. Thank you. I'm sure if Johnny were here he would say the same."
"Sure he wouldn't just complain about how bad my apartment is again?" Peter asked back sarcastically. Storm smiled and said nothing. That was encouraging, "Heard from Lana that you were having some issues because of the Mist. You alright now."
"Oh, yes. Lana, Gabriel and the rest were very patient with me." She clapped her hands gently and the arms not covered by her purple blouse disappeared briefly before appearing again, "It's not perfect but it was much better than when I first awakened."
"Go show off your new costume to Gabe. I gotta talk to Pete alone." Lana practically shoved them both into Gabriel's room despite their protests then plopped down on the couch next to him. Peter looked at her with a silent, questioning look and she shrugged, "Trying to get those two together. They've already gone on a couple of dates but they're such giant wallflowers that they won't actually do anything besides hold hands. Even insist they're still just friends."
"Are you really someone who should be playing cupid?"
"Yeah, well, it's not my fault that my crush decided I was just like a little sister to him." She rolled her eyes and leaned forward to look at the laptop on the table, "Gabe said he was planning to help me out on my Mist hunt. Guessing you're here because of that?"
"Yeah. So far we've got a few leads we're thinking of following, but nothing concrete." Peter put a hand on his chin and leaned back, "I'll text you the list of leads me and Gabe compiled later. Sorry I can't do more. I'm pretty busy with...a lot of things." The Hand were just the tip of the iceberg. Page had him on call for any emergency exorcisms, Satanna was on his ear about whatever issue came to mind and that was just the supernatural stuff. Even now he had to go to the homeless camp since there were rumors of organ harvesting running around.
"Don't sweat it, dude. Trust me, I can deal with Diamondback and her serpent skullfuckers." She grinned and shut the laptop quickly, "Oh, I should probably tell you. I'm following your lead and getting my own apprentice."
"Storm?"
"Mhm. Her manager thinks it'll be good for her image if she went around doing some crime solving. Nothing serious, wouldn't want America's Sweetheart getting shot, but a little community service here and there. Who knows, maybe America's Sweetheart gets a taste of the hero life and decides to join the Initiative. Doubt it, though."
"Hmm..." He wasn't going to judge. Not like he was a licensed hero, much to Gwen's annoyance. She would've preferred it if he and Mary joined the Initiative and be good little heroes of the state.
Speaking of Mary...
"...Odd question, but I need some advice."
"Oh, asking me for help this time? Hit me."
"Heard you did a 'team up' with Mary a few days ago." He never liked how it was called. 'Team up', like it was just a couple of kids going out for an afternoon jaunt. Nevermind how dangerous the things they did were.
"Yeah, she had to deal with some Skulls looking for a friend of hers. No dice, though. Why?"
"What did you think of her? Mary, I mean?"
"Huh? Uh...guess she's alright?" Lana crossed her arms and looked up at the ceiling, "Can't really tell you much. We didn't exactly sit down and paint our nails or anything. It was the first time I really talked with her one-on-one but I can tell she's someone I'd want watching my back. Seems like she has that monster under control, at least. Why? You worried she's going off the deep end?"
"Not that. Well, not as far as her tagalong is concerned." He pressed his hands together and looked ahead, "She...it's difficult to describe. A few weeks ago when you came over for dinner we talked up on the roof and...her tagalong said that she...that she had-"
"She wanted to get into your pants?" Lana asked bluntly.
"Wouldn't put it that way, but sure." Peter sighed, "At the time I didn't think much of it. She was under a lot of strain so I figured that she was just looking for comfort anywhere she could get." Just like when she kissed him a year ago. It didn't mean anything - she was just so desperate for anyone who understood her and he was the closest one there.
"What about it?"
"After that bastard Arcade I was under house arrest and Mary was my guard for a while. She..." Practically stripped in front of him, "Well...she made it obvious that it was a bit more than just that."
"And...what? Dunno what I'm supposed to be doing here?"
"Just...I don't know. I haven't talked to her about it for obvious reasons but I think I really should. Feels...wrong just pretending it didn't happen." Wasn't fair to her or Gwen. Or was it? Nothing happened afterwards so was it better to just act like it never happened and that everything was completely alright? "I figured you might know what to do since..."
"Since I had a monster crush on you? Thanks, don't feel like you're rubbing it in my face or anything."
"I was actually going to say because you're playing matchmaker with your friends, but fine. Sure. Because you have poor taste on the people you like."
"Fuck you." Lana punched his shoulder lightly then sagged on the couch, "I dunno what to tell you, Pete. Nothing happened and you two seem like you're cool so maybe it's better if you just leave it be? I mean Gabe had a crush on me for like a hot minute and I just told him straight out it wasn't gonna happen. But that's different. Guessing Scarlet's not trying to get into your pants now, right?"
"Guess not..."
"Then just leave it is my advice. We all have our crushes and sometimes we act like idiots. If everything's cool now there's no reason to make shit awkward by bring up the time she came onto you."
"I suppose." He sighed again and closed his eyes. He suddenly felt exhausted, "I don't even know what brought that on."
"Uh...you're a catch, dude. Thought that was obvious. You know there's a reason you've got fangirls who get wet every time a new pic of you comes out. "
"Haha..."
"Not kidding. Maybe if you weren't so busy being 'woe is me I'm a rebel without a cause' you'd realize that you're not nearly as fucking terrible as you think you are. You do know that the only reason me and Scarlet are even still here is because of you, right? I'd be dead in an alley if you didn't help me get that old fuck Carter and Scarlet would've gone insane if you weren't there to help her."
"Hm. If you say so."
"Ugh, why do you act like taking compliments is like getting your fingernails ripped off?"
He was about to counter with something equally clever and sarcastic when the door opened for the second time and Patillio trudged in. He looked terrible. His posture was loose with his head draped down and he loosely gripped his oversized mask under his right arm. When he looked up slightly his expression was marred in a frown and Peter saw the puffy red eyes and dried tear marks on his cheeks. Crying till recently.
"Hey, Frogboy. What's up? Something happen?" Lana asked.
"No..." He walked past them without another word and practically collapsed onto the nearest chair. The large frog mask dropped from his limp grip and rolled away only to hit the wall with a dull thud.
Peter and Lana looked at one another briefly before she sighed, "Alright, what's up? You're not usually so...down."
"It's nothing. I just...I'm a fuck up." Peter's brows furrowed worriedly. He wasn't a stranger to self-deprecation but it sounded hollow even by his standards.
"Yeah, something happened." Lana let out a soft breath and turned back to him, "You should probably get out of here, Pete. Get the feeling this'll take a while."
"Mmm. This wouldn't have anything do with your 'team-up' with Scarlet Spider, would it?" Peter asked. Patillio winced. He'd take that as a yes, "Where is she? Ain't like her to do the whole partnership thing in the first place." Even Gwen had to convince her to work together. No offense to Patillio but he didn't exactly see what Frog-Man could bring to the table that any of them couldn't.
"She's..." He sniffed and shook his head, "Uh, I dunno. She wasn't exactly telling me her plans after what I did."
"Right. Guess I'll go look for her then. Take care, Lana."
"You too, Pete."
She found him.
Mary Jane's fist hit the bastard's face for must have been the dozenth time that minute. He'd stopped begging after the fifth hit. Or more accurately he couldn't even form the words anymore. Right now all he could do was pathetically gurgle out blood and teeth as Mary Jane bashed his face in again and again. Blood clung to her fingers and she felt how thick it was even through her suit.
Not that she would've listened to him even if he could talk. The first thing she did after she found them was pounce and pin him to the floor. She remembered the kid screaming and running to hide in the corner just before the first punch hit.
The smell of blood lingered in the air as Mary Jane finally stopped. The guy was still alive, if barely. Parts of his body twitched and Mary Jane had to resist the urge to crush his skull open. He deserved it, and she'd already broken her own rules more than once, but some desperate part of her that wanted to maintain some kind of higher ground kept her from pushing past that last slope.
'Is the little meat alive?'
'The kid...' Panting, Mary Jane stood up and walked shakily to the kid slumped up in the corner. He was pressed against the wall in a fetal position with his eyes shut tight and both hands covering his ears. Bastards. What kind of trash looked at a kid and saw dollar signs, "Hey, it's okay." She knelt down in front of him and offered her right hand, "He can't hurt you anymore."
His next words felt like a stab in the gut.
"D-Don't hurt me..." He curled in even more on himself and shivered. Mary Jane was about to protest till she saw her reflection on a nearby window. Even through the red of her costume the blood was obvious and the white 'eyes' of her mask were stained a startling dark red. It was only then that she remembered the blood on her hands, the thick drops dripping between her fingers to the dirty floor.
The same hand she was offering the kid - the kid who looked barely 8 years old - without any hesitation.
Mary Jane pulled back with a slight flinch. Of course the kid would be scared, 'Shit...' What the hell was she supposed to do now? He'd scream bloody murder if she tried to pick him up and outside of that being horrible she didn't want to end up on the other side of that sonic scream again.
She wiped the blood from her hands against the wall and looked down at the shivering kid. Couldn't just leave him here, "Look at me. Please." It took almost half a minute but eventually the boy's shivering lessened and he found the courage to look up at her, "I'm sorry you had to see that, but we can't stay here. That bad man was going to hurt you and and I had to stop him. Do you understand?"
The kid looked between her and the unconscious thug and very slowly nodded.
"He can't hurt you anymore, okay? No we just need to get you back home. Okay?" Another nod, "Good. I'm going to call the police and they'll take you back home. Then you can see your family again."
One final nod. Mary Jane felt a bit better about herself as she sat across the street a few minutes later and watched as the cops took the scared boy to the police car while the piece of shit holding him was dragged to the hospital via a stretcher. Still alive, but she doubted he'd go to trial. It'd be a miracle if he didn't get crippling brain damage by the time it was all.
'If that was how he'd end up we should've just killed him.'
'Some things are worse than dying.'
'So much for mercy.'
'Some people don't deserve it.'
It scared her sometimes just how in sync she and Crimson were nowadays. Sure they had their arguments - Mary Jane doubted that'd ever go away - but most days they moved in a rhythm she couldn't even dream off a year ago. She wasn't sure if that was a good or bad thing.
A quiet thud landed behind her; so quiet that she doubted she would've heard it if it wasn't for Crimson boosing her hearing. Mary Jane craned her neck slightly and hummed when she saw Peter, "Hey, Tiger." She scooted to the left to give him some space to sit and they both watched in silence as the sirens slowly faded away and the husk of an apartment that bastard used as a hideout was abandoned again.
"How'd you find me?" Mary Jane asked after a couple minutes of silence.
"Listened to the police scanners and heard about an anonymous tip about a Gifted kid that got kidnapped. Figured it was you since you and Matt rescued one not too long ago." Yeah, her and Murdock's first team up. The start of their 'beautiful' partnership, "Sorry if you were hoping for a team up."
"It's fine. I know you prefer to work alone." Something they both shared, actually. Even when Peter worked with his team it always felt like he hated every second of it, "Hey...you alright?"
"Hm? Why wouldn't I be?"
"Just asking. I heard from Lana that you were looking for another model?" Mary Jane's mouth curled in a frown. Missy Alderman was still missing and as much as Cindy wanted to help she was still one person, Avengers or not.
"Yeah."
"Guessing you haven't had any luck.
"Nope." She brought up on leg and hugged it to her chest, "Heard from one of those Serpents guys that some mad scientist guy grabbed her. Only lead I have is that a bunch of hired mercs from group called Anvil was with him, but no dice there. Looking them up on the net just gives me the usual shit and Norah's too busy with another case to do her superhacker thing."
"Anvil..."
"Sound familiar?"
"In a way. Sowande hired them to test out his serums." The Lizard serum. She was still surprised the damn thing was around even after all this time, "Might just be a coincidence but I think they're connected to the Hand in some way. Wanna investigate them together?"
"You sure you have the time? You never sleep and I swear you still never have enough time for a breather." Much to Gwen's annoyance. She'd complained more than once that it felt like Peter was obsessed with making sure he had some new crime to stop every minute. Mary Jane didn't bother to point out that Gwen Stacy, of all people, had no room to talk considering her own schedule.
"Should be fine. If they're connected to the Hand then I might be able to find something I can use against Bakuto or Gao."
"Won't say no then." She stretched her arms above her head and was about to stand when Peter suddenly asked, "How's your partnership with Matt going?"
"It's...going." She shrugged, "Not exactly friends with the guy, and Felicia still hates his guts, but they mostly play nice." And by mostly she meant Felicia making not so subtle death threats and Murdock basically daring her to do it. Why couldn't she have normal hero teamups?
Then again the one time she tried...
"What happened between you and Patillio?" he asked suddenly. Mary Jane nearly jumped off the building in shock, "Ran into him while I was helping Lana out with something. His friend told me that you two planned a partner thing today but when we saw him he looked like he just got told his entire family died."
"Yeah..." She didn't know how to describe how she felt. Guilt? Sure, but not completely. As much as she knew she went too far with what she said she couldn't deny how cathartic it felt to say. She managed to track down the kid this time, but what if she hadn't? Kid would've been halfway around the world to be some sick bastard's pet Gifted and she couldn't do anything about it.
And all because he wanted to score some internet points.
'You shouldn't feel bad. He deserved worse.'
"If you don't wanna tell me then it's fine." He took off his mask and lit a cigarette.
"No, it's...it's cool." She took a deep breath and told him everything. For his part Peter didn't show any kind of judgement and just looked on ahead with a passive expression, cigarette hanging between two fingers.
"Hm." He said eventually.
"Not gonna tell me to apologize?"
"Not my place." He tapped the cancer stick and watched as the ash fell to the street below, "Can't deny that Patillio definitely screwed up something fierce but I can't say what you said was right either. But I also wasn't there." He took a long, slow drag, "And for what it's worth if I was in your place I'd have been steaming too. It's one thing if you just wanna help, it's another if you're doing it because you want people to pay attention to you."
"Yeah..." Mary Jane closed her eyes briefly then stood, "...I'm gonna head out. Call me up if you wanna investigate Anvil."
He waved her away without a word and she swung back to Felicia's penthouse. Even now she found it odd coming back to something she definitely couldn't have a afforded in a million years, "Felicia? You here?" Nothing. Guess she was out. Ignoring the sticky feeling of blood clinging to her, she trudged to the bathroom and barely peeled the suit away by the time she was under the hot shower.
Steam filled the large bathroom Mary Jane sighed in relief. She looked down at the dried blood that stuck to her palms and watched as it slowly washed away down the drain, "Fuck..." She pressed both hands against the shower wall and tried to ignore the kid's scared face popping into her head. It was completely underestandable that he'd be scared but it didn't help how guilty she felt. She should've done better.
And then there was Frog-Man. Should she apologize? And even if she wanted to how would she do it? She doubted dropping by his place for a quick, half-assed sorry was going to help him any. And even if she did that it wouldn't be completely true. She definitely went too far telling him to jump off a building but he wasn't completely blameless here either.
Her mulling thoughts were cut off when the door to the shower slid open and Felicia's appreciative hum reached her ears, "Well now, this is a nice surprise." Mary Jane was about to move when a pair of smooth hands wrapped around her waist and slowly inched their way upwards. Her arms were bare, so it was fair to say she wasn't the only one going au naturel here.
Mary Jane bit her lip to keep from making a sound. She could practically see Felicia's smirk as the older woman turned her around and pinned her against the shower wall in foreful kiss that left Mary Jane with a burning warmth in her gut.
Screw it, she could worry about everything later. Right now she was gonna make Felicia scream.
dendentist01: DarkSpider, what are your thoughts on drug dealers? I heard from my cousin that you spotted a friend of his dealing but didn't do anything. Why?
reply from DarkSpider: Most dealers hand out to people looking for a high. If they become addicts then it's their own fault and unless dealers are jabbing people or forcing the drugs into your system I leave them be.
reply from dendentist01: Don't you think that's irresponsible? Addicts are victims too and dealers make them that way.
reply from DarkSpider: Are they? Like I said most people I've seen take that needle themselves. If a guy digs his own grave and jumps knowing the consequences are they really a victim?
reply from light naegi: Isn't that a bit too callous? A lot of extenuating circumstances lead to people taking drugs.
reply from DarkSpider: I'm aware. But at the end of the day for most people it's their choice. Many people go through horrible things in life without resorting to drugs. If you were given something as a kid or a dealer jabbed you in the arm without you knowing, fine. But if you go looking for a dealer to get a fix then you have no one to blame but yourself.
reply from brushhead 01: Welp, you heard it here first, folks! Spider-Man supports drug dealing and thinks addicts are trash!
reply from DarkSpider: Funny, I remember reading an article from Jameson about how addicts don't deserve sympathy and should be tossed out to the streets for ruining their own lives. Then again he also called Spider-Woman a murderer and said I was a victim. Clearly he got that right too, hm?
reply from dendentist01: Back on topic, this viewpoint seems really cruel. And where do you draw the line?
reply from DarkSpider: Like I said, unless a dealer is forcing it down your throat I leave them be. I do go after cartels but that's because the drugs are funding for something else. Dealers aren't likely to be using drug sales to prop up a criminal empire.
Like I said, a bit shorter than usual. I wanted to do more of a low key character break chapter after the previous one set up plotpoints so here we have just a talky chapter between Noir, Gabriel, Lana and Mary Jane. Oh and Noir finally acknowledges that Mary Jane was being pretty creepy by basically coming onto him that one time.
Oh and Felicia's currently leading in the votes for MJ's current love interest so I decided to throw her a bone at the end there given that she's had far less interactions with MJ than Matt has.
Next chapter's likely to be the comic-con (unless more stuff happens in San Fransokyo) so hopefully everyone enjoys it. So far votes lean towards it not being interrupted by a villain so it'll be a legitimate break.
Questions:
1. The current groups planned for the comic-con are Noir with Lana; Gwen, Cindy and Laura; and Mary Jane and Norah. If anyone has any suggestions for other pair ups please put them in the reviews.
2. Are you guys okay with the current team up levels of the five protagonists? So far they're helping each other out in investigations and the like but leave the heavy lifting to the respective POV character. Should I tone it up? Tone it down?
Review Answers:
RedHood001 - Mary Jane does feel bad in this chapter for her insults but as she says she also doesn't think she was completely wrong considering what Frog-Man did. At the end she puts it off in favor of screwing Felicia. Very irresponsible of her.
CaesarKrest - The comic-con was voted as people wanting a legitimate break chapter so that wouldn't work for full insanity.
Hardlight - To you as well :)
