Sorry for the delay. New games and family issues came up. Anyway, this is a Norah chapter in a somewhat similar vein to '3 AM at Benny's'. It's meant to be slightly shorter and explore more of the fringe elements that happen in the background that the main protags don't have to deal with.
We also get a bit more insight into Norah and how she acts when she's not just cheerily ignoring threats to her life. A lot of this was inspired by how she was written in both Greg Rucka's Punisher run and the Osborn miniseries.
On a side note, a bunch of reviewers commented on the Noir/Gwen scene last chapter even though it only showed up at the beginning of the 2nd segment and wasn't really focused on. Guess that's the kind of stuff that draws attention.
Norah liked to think she was a good person. Well, better than average, at least. Now she'd admit that the things she'd done in the past couple of years might make her look suspect, especially the help she gave Frank and MJ, but she always had good intentions. It wasn't like they were going after pickpockets and weed dealers or something. She doubted anyone in New York would crime bosses who murdered whole families or that nurse who deliberately poisoned her patients for God only knows what reason.
Then again, the fact that she was thinking about this might've meant she had some doubts.
She'd always been a fan of the less straight edge heroes. Phantom thieves like Lupin or the rebels like Thrawn were more her speed than Amazingman or the samurai who used the power of honor and friendship to win the day. Maybe it bled into how she saw heroes in the real world, too. She liked Gwen and the Avengers just fine, but there was a reason that she was closer to MJ or Ben and his group over people like the Initiative.
Norah let out a soft breath and stretched her arms above her head. She was naked, which wouldn't have been odd if not for the fact that Frank was there too. He wasn't naked, which wasn't exactly a surprise. Frank wasn't the cuddling in bed kind of guy and he'd probably fuck her through his clothes if he could somehow manage it. Even convincing him to actually take his pants off instead of just screwing with a loose zipper was an ordeal the first time.
Right now he was standing with his back to her already fully dressed, trenchcoat included. He was doing a final check on the guns he'd be using to go after...who was it again? Nicky Cavella, if she remembered right. Some bigshot in the Cavella crime family with a lot of innocent blood on his hands and just the right amount of greased palms to make sure that he'd never got punished for it.
And now Frank was coming to collect the toll.
It was a bad idea, what they were doing. She knew that, Ben knew that, even Karen knew that; and she was the poster girl of unhealthy relationships. But hey, it wasn't like she was the best at making good decisions. Any normal person would've told Ben to get the hell out when he asked for info on Sin Eater. She decided to bargain with him so she could get a scoop. Kinda scuzzy looking back on it, but where would she be now if she didn't? Just another journalist chasing the masks without one of the weirder friends she'd had over the years.
Then again, that annoying little voice at the back of her head whispered, if she did then she wouldn't have to spend most of the week crashing at different safehouses because people shot at her.
The sex was...okay, at least. She wasn't under any illusions. For Frank the sex drive most people had was just this annoying biological quirk, an itch he had to scratch. To him even a second's hesitation could get a person killed and the last thing he needed was losing focus just cause he was pent up. If she didn't offer to spend the night with him he'd probably just do it in the shower, all perfunctory and automatic.
And it wasn't like she didn't get anything either. Sex was a good distraction and Frank had to do something right to get two kids. They both benefited and it was supposed to be a one time thing anyway so no big deal.
Of course, that really only explained the first time a year ago. The last three times they did it since he came back were were a lot harder to jusfity.
She stood up and put her clothes back on. She was almost tempted to put on Frank's shirt but she knew from experience that the guy didn't do flustered...actually, he didn't do a lot of emotions. Even when they were in the middle of it the guy's face was stuck.
The safehouse was Frank's and it was a little bigger than some of her usual haunts. The places she crashed at usually belonged to Moon Knight, though a couple were Cindy's and one was a kind of share thing. They trusted her enough to let her use them. Payment for all that info she got them on short notice, she guessed. If she actually charged for any of that she'd be raking in the big bucks.
Frank didn't say anything even when he heard her walking around. Considering after the first time they did it he practically kicked her out she considered it progress, "Hey, you got anything to eat?"
He grunted and nudged his head to the cupboard to his right. Norah rolled her eyes and picked through the stack of MRE's. Cause of course Frank Castle didn't have anything to make home cooked meals.
Might remind him too much of that family he abandoned.
"Ooh, French? Someone's spoiling themselves." She got some hot water and heat it up. That was another new thing for her. She went from cup noodles and energy drinks to MRE's and vitamin pills. And she actually kinda liked the former, "By the way, all that info I gave you on Cavella? Got that from an inside man. I made sure to distract him tonight but don't, you know, go hunting him down or anything. He's a good guy."
Frank snorted and finally said something, "And how many of his victims think that?"
"He's not one of the hatchet guys. He's small time, just did some odd jobs for the family cause his cousin's one of the big guys." Frank still looked unimpressed, "Look, if he was such a piece of shit he wouldn't have given up this info...and I wouldn't be trying to defend the guy. You know me. You really think I'd help you or MJ out if I got squeamish about the bad guys getting what they deserve?"
He was quiet for a while after that. That was one thing she liked about him: he didn't feel the need to have the last word in.
She sat on the bed and slurpled up the food while Frank finished his preparations. It was close to midnight now and she had another favor to do for Karen: sneak into that casino that Scorpion was using as one of his fronts and get some info. Karen could make some inquiries, Cindy could use it for her own investigation, and Norah put her life at risk and got absolutely nothing for it. Total win-win-win.
"You know, I wonder how you got your info before you got back here. Especially down in Mexico with all those Cartels." Now those were people that deserved whatever they got, "What, did you have a sidekick while you were traveling the globe?"
Frank sighed and set a magazine in place on his rifle, "Sidekick? Don't make me laugh. Someone like that would just be a liability."
"Come on, not even gonna consider it? You know I'm open to taking that gig. We could even give me a techy name like Database or Microchip."
"Winters. No." He gave her a tired glare.
"Wow...who hurt you?" She knew she was pushing him, but that was how their relationship - whatever it was - worked. For all the strangers he was either a psychotic bastard or the hero criminals deserved. Everyone who actually knew him hated him at worst or tolerated him at best. He needed someone to push his buttons that wasn't just another criminal he'd shoot to win the argument. How long had it been since he actually had a conversation that didn't involve threats or orders?
And Frank always responded. He never got angry, not really, which annoyed her somewhat. Least then she'd know he was taking her seriously.
"It's practical." He was checking his pistol now, "You work alone then you only have to worry about yourself. The more people you have around you the more they can be exploited. All the preparations in the world won't help when someone you thought you could trust tells your enemies your every weakness."
"Yeah, but then what happens when you get in trouble? Not having friends means no one to be targeted but it also means that there's no one coming to rescue when shit hits the fan. Sometimes it pays to have a support network."
"Better off alone."
"That what you tell yourself whenever you look at your wedding ring? I know you still keep it around." Frank's glare was chilling. Norah looked back at him without breaking eye contact and stood till they were face to face, "Come on, you don't think it's weird? You ditched a wife and two kids to fight a war that doesn't have ending, Frank. People like that don't get sentimental about what they had. Especially when they chose to leave it."
Frank slammed his hand harshly against the wall next to her head. For a second she thought he would hit her, but of course he didn't. Frank Castle was a lot of things, some of them profoundly shitty, but he always made sure to only punish those who deserved it. The day he started targeting people who spraytagged walls was the day she blew the whistle on everything he did.
They stayed that way for a few seconds, just staring at one another without a word, before Frank eventually pulled back and went back to his guns. Great, that was his daily dose of emotion one and done.
She dumped the food in the bin and made to leave. That was how it always was with them. No long goodbyes or asking when they could meet up next. Norah wasn't stupid. For that entire year she expected that, any day now, she'd see news of Frank's bullet-ridden body finally being found in some dark alley. Or worse, not hearing anything at all cause there wasn't even a body left to string up. People like Frank Castle didn't have longevity or retirement options.
Every time she left that door it could've been the last time she'd ever see him.
"Why are you doing this?" Her hand stopped on the knob. Frank actually starting a conversation on his own? Was the world ending?...Again?
"Gonna have to be a bit more specific." She turned around and leaned against the door with her back, arms crossed, "Do you mean this favor I'm doing for Karen? Cause that's part of this quid pro quo thing we have going on. If you mean the things we did last night then I should probably remind you that it takes two to tango and I didn't drag you to the bed. Now if you mean that job I did a couple days ago that's actually a funny story-"
Frank set his pistol down with a slam. This was serious, "Remind me again, what are you supposed to be?"
"A...person?" Norah's face knotted in confusion. Where was he going with this?
"When you first met that kid you were a journalist. Made a deal with him that you'd help catch Carter if he gave you the exclusive."
"What, you gonna judge me for it?" Norah scoffed, "It wasn't like I was gonna leave Carter out there if Ben said no. Just figured I could get something out of it considering he was asking me to help a wanted vigilante." Not that she really had any alternatives. Wasn't like the cops back then cared about a bunch of prostotitutes and junkies getting offed. And that wasnt' taking the whole devil curse thing on top.
"Mm. When was the last time you've been a journalist?"
Norah's eyes narrowed, "Excuse me?"
"You heard me. When was the last time you made those kinds of deals or didn't do an interview just because you needed to cover for one of your friends." Norah grit her teeth. The fact that he wasn't smug or smiling just pissed her off even more, "You do the bare minimum to keep yourself from being fired and you spend the rest of your time playing at fugitive."
"Well maybe that's because I'm too busy getting info for everyone!" She threw her hands up, "Okay, so I haven't been doing a lot, but ever since Ben came back it's just one thing after another. He needs info on gangs, prisons, supervillains. Then there's this shit with Cindy and Symkaria or whatever else MJ or Gwen or Lana or Karen need. Didn't exactly have time for personal projects!"
She didn't miss the fact that she spent more time hiding the truth than actually reporting it nowadays. Giving into Mary Jane for her targets, helping Ben's group infiltrate that prison, passing info to Cindy under the table; if her family found out about even half of the things she did they'd explode. Then probably disown her, which wasn't really skin off her nose at this point. Schizophrenic grandma, narcissistic mom and dead dad. Hardly something worth clinging to.
"You're slipping. You spend more time in safehouses than at home and you jump from one crazy plan to another without thinking of the risks."
"Gee, wonder what that reminds me of." She rolled her eyes, "And hey, you're one to talk! Who exactly got you that info on Cavella? Didn't see you hesitating when I handed over that file."
"You're going to get yourself killed, Norah."
Norah laughed incredulousy, "Oh, that's rich coming from you. Remind me again, who was it that went on an international murder spree without even saying anything? Even Moon Knight was polite enough to say goodbye. The next time I heard about you was when you went on a killing spree in Venezuela." He apparently helped topple government while he was there, which was both impressive and really scary.
"It wasn't any of your business."
"You're right, it isn't. Just like this isn't any of yours." She walked close to him again and poked him in the chest, "You wanna bring up my shitty family or that I have no friends besides crazy vigilantes? Fine, whatever, fair game. But if I don't bitch you out for your glorified suicide run then you don't get to complain about me 'slipping'. Just cause you're old enough to be my dad doesn't mean you get to lecture me, Frank."
She almost poked him again till he grabbed her right wrist and pulled. Norah managed to keep her balance and looked up at Frank with a glare. Any other person would've pissed their pants seeing the Punisher looking down at them like that. But he wasn't just the Punisher to her. He was Frank Castle, a guy who was frankly a terrible person even if you take out the mass murder thing he did on the daily.
And cause she was a freaking idiot of course she just had to feel something for him.
Norah pulled her arm back and he let her go without a fight. She had to go back to work.
Ansageri: So kind of the elephant in the room, but if countries go to war do superheroes get involved? What about invasions, civil wars and other political conflicts?
reply from Daythrop: Depends on the hero and organization, I think? Like the Initiative are basically glorified celebrity cops and cops and FBI don't go to warzones. That's what soldiers are for.
reply from ToolsVash: What about the Avengers? They put the stop to H.Y.D.R.A and that's definitely an international terrorist group.
reply from Riddeau: Wars imply conflict between two countries or legitimate powers. Terrorists aren't offically sanctioned by anyone and fall under the jurisdiction of groups like Homeland Security. Guessing the Avengers, being a UN Peacekeeping group, have carte blanche to attack any and all terrorist groups.
reply from Vampire Doodle: Groups like the Avengers can definitely do more than just stopping terorrist. Like they have the freaking God of Lightning on their side. Why can't they go to North Korea or any wartorn country and fix things?
reply from Riddeau: Because fixing a country requires more than beating up the bad guys? Like what do you think happens when dictators are ousted? There's transitioning of government, riots, and a lot of confusion in-between. Unless heroes have a solid plan to fix things besides 'beat up the bad guy' they're just going to escalate things or make it worse.
reply from Intervieve: Escalation is definitely the main worry. Say the Avengers go over to *insert country here* and topple the government. You don't think the other countries wouldn't get nervous about a bunch of superhumans deciding they know what to do better than the government? Russia's already got their own Super team. This is a new cold war, instead now we're using Supers instead of nukes.
reply from ToolsWash: So all that power and the best thing they can do is keep the status quo? Fucking typical.
Sneaking into a casino to spy on a crime boss with ties to Symkarian weapons smuggling. Norah wondered just when she went from being a journalist to a wannabe amateur spy.
Actually getting into the back rooms wasn't that hard. Karen gave her a decent cover story and after that a few winks, glasses of booze and whispered promises got her the rest of the way. Places like this people were quick to assume she was just another drunk, dumb blonde they could take advantage of. A taser to the side was quick to change their minds.
"Come on, come on..." She tapped her fingers impatiently on the table as she watched the computer copy the files. After everything that happened with the Hand and the demon last year she brushed up on her hacking skills. Came in handy more than once, though that was another thing she had to hide from everyone at the Front Line. Some people still gave her side eyes for hijacking the feed to stream that Spider-Woman interview.
Norah pulled the plug as soon as the bar finished and stuffed the hard drive back into her clutch purse. Technically she was done, but she overheard earlier about a meeting the boss was with 'one of them freaks'. Gifted crime was rising at a slow but steady rate and any information on that was worth its weight in gold. If they could head off those types getting involved in organized crime then all the better.
Good news was they weren't actually meeting out in some isolated office - a lot of criminals didn't, actually. One trick she learned from journalism was that most people only picked out tone when they weren't deliberately listening for something. You could've been talking about selling nuclear launch codes and chances are no one will pick up on it if you sounded like you were discussing the weather.
The boss and his 'guest' were at one of the exclusive blackjack tables. Norah ruffled her hair and mussed up her dress slightly as she stumbled over there, "Hey boys, I want in!" she slurred. She tripped past the guard and made a show of dropping the clutch purse, spilling a few of the contents inside (though she made sure the hard drive stayed hidden), "Oh, shit, shit! Sorry! Just had a bit too much...ah, whatever, come on, let me buy in!"
"Jesus. Help her up then get her outta here." The boss grunted. He was pretty typical from what she'd seen before. Mid-50's, fancy gray suit and a silver rolex watch. The guy sitting next to him was what drew her attention. He looked young - barely older than her - with jet black hair, pale skin and brown, almost red eyes. The way he looked at her sent chills down her spine.
Norah tossed the miniature bug when no one was looking and gathered everything with the help of the guard, "Please learn to pace yourself, ma'am," the guard said, all stiff and polite.
"Ah, c'mon, what's the point? Just trying to have some fun!" She slapped his face lightly a couple times then let him drag her out to the more public areas. Once he was out of sight she pulled out an earbud and put it inside her right ear, "Now what are you planning."
It was kind of hard to make them out with all the background noise, but eventually she managed to pick up on the boss' voice, "What exactly are you offering, Mr. Balthazar?" Balthazar? Geez, that just screamed evil.
"Something all of your kind seek: salvation." Norah's brows furrowed. Was the guy a Jehovah's witness or maybe one of those recruits from the Church of Asgard? "You know of the things you've done, Mr. O'Brien. The same way you know that hell exists. Do you really think those donations you make to the church will clean the blood from your hands? That life is so cheaply paid for?"
"What do you want?" O'Brien asked, tenser than before.
"Like I said: salvation. You're slated for Hell, Mr. O'Brien, and I'm offering you a way out of that particular brand of torment. You must know what I am." Norah looked back just for a second and winced when the guy's reddish brown eyes glowed bright crimson. Yep, demon. Was it weird that barely fazed her anymore? "I can make sure that when your finally leave this world you won't have to face eternity in the fires."
"...And what would you want in exchange?" Hook, line and sinker. Not that Norah was surprised. O'Brien was Irish mob, those types tended to be believers. Especially when demons were proven real just a year ago.
"Just a few requests here and there. Don't worry, I don't plan to take over your organization or anything. Whoever heard of a demon running a crime family?" He laughed. Creepy, "I won't ask you to compromise yourself either. Do that and I'll make sure that when you finally expire I'll be there to pluck your soul before the collectors drag it down to the melting pots."
She got what she needed.
Norah debated going back to try and recover the bug before she decided to cut her losses. Cindy owed her too many favors to hold it against her anyway, "Page, we gotta meet." She hailed a taxi and let out a sigh of relief when the yellow car turned the corner out of sight. Karen was going to be at the library like she always was. And if she was lucky then it'd actually be Karen instead of that Angel.
She walked inside in a rush and grinned when she saw the warm smile on Karen's face. Ruth didn't smile like that, "An eventful evening, Norah?" She poured her a cup of tea as Norah sat on the other side of the table.
"Same as always." She set the purse down on the table and brought out both the storage drive and her earbud, "Got the info on the rackets the Callaghan family is running. Scopion's taking a cut of all their drug and gun sales so Cindy's gonna wanna hit those." She tapped the earphone, "Got a little extra, too. Recorded a little pow-wow the boss had with a guy called Balthazar. He's from down south, if you catch my drift."
Karen frowned and took a small sip of her tea, "Ever since Matt was freed from the Beast the demons seem to be coming out of the woodwork, making deals and plans."
"Don't tell me you think it was better when that guy was in charge."
"Of course not! Organized evil isn't any more palatable; just looks better. The demons are scrambling to try and get their fill, but the hole the Beast filled is far too deep to be filled by half-breeds and Travelers."
"About that...is this guy legit? Like could he really make sure O'Brien gets off scott free?" The thought of terrible people escaping even after they croaked didn't sit right with her.
"No. Only Mephisto could make those kinds of promises and he's not the type to offer those kinds of deals. He's more fond of corrupting souls down to hell than giving them a chance to leave it. These demons are awaare of the fear humans hold for them and they play on that belief. Surely if anyone or anything can save them from damnation it would be one of Hell's residents, hm?"
"And the only way the suckers realize it is after they're dead. That point no one can double check so who's gonna call them out." Norah smiled wryly.
"Exactly. This Balthazar...I don't know him, but if I had to guess he's no different than the numerous half-breeds and lower rung demons taking advantage of these criminals' fear. They're drunk on the pleasure of earth that they couldn't receive down in Hell."
"Not that different from us puny humans, huh?" Norah took her own sip of tea and shrugged, "Guessing Ruth's gonna take care of him, huh? That's what she does, right? Punish the rulebreakers?" Punish. Damn it, now she was thinking of Frank again.
Karen noticed her change in expression and looked on sympathetically, "Problems?"
"No, it's just..." Norah let out a frustrated breath and brought a hand through her hair, "I was talking with Frank before I did this job and he said some bs about how I'm not even really a journalist and I spend more of my time doing favors for everyone else instead of doing my own thing." Norah set her cup down, "I don't even know why he brought it up. Frank's too jaded to pretend to be worried."
"Maybe he actually cares?"
Norah laughed. It sounded just a tad more bitter than she liked, "Oh yeah, sure. Totally. The guy who ditches his family so he can go on a glorified suicide run cares about the journalist he pumps for info whenever he's in town. I'm an information source, nothing else."
"Hmm, I wouldn't be sure about that." Karen refilled her cup slowly, "As your friend I feel like I should warn you about the people to you tie yourself to. Whatever you're hoping for can only end badly."
"Okay, Karen, we're friends and I care about you, so I hope you don't find it offensive when I say that it's really weird for you to be saying that considering what you did to Matt Murdock." She didn't feel sorry for the guy, but she had to admit that forcing him to stay alive even after he wanted to just end it all was pretty fucked up.
"...Point." To her credit she didn't look offended at the accusation, "But I can't say he's completely wrong. You've been running yourself ragged these past few months. Maybe you should relax, at least for a few days? Maybe do something that doesn't put your life at the end of a gun?"
"Sure, right up until Ben or Cindy or MJ call and say they need info on this guy or they have a file to decrypt before the end of the day." She didn't mind her friendly relying on her; it actually made her feel good to help. Still, the fact that they just expected she could pull miracles out of her ass could be frustrating sometimes, "Cause apparently big time superheroes and secret agents don't have better sources or hackers on hand."
"I'll send word to Peter and the others that you should rest and they have to find some other person to help them."
"But-"
"Please, Norah? For me?" Karen's worried look made her feel guilty.
"...Fine." Karen smiled while Norah groaned and leaned back on the chair. Sometimes she was worse than Ruth. She wielded guilt like a knife, "Look, just keep me in the loop on anything that comes up, alright? I'm in too deep to just back out now."
She finished off her tea and was about to stand when Karen's posture shifted. Ruth was back, "Was wondering if you'd show up." Norah's grip on the handle tightened. As much as she liked Karen she wasn't really fond of her partner. Probably had something to do with being pushed off a roof.
"Thank you for the information." She rolled the earbud between her fingers, "These half-breeds are becoming far too confident in flouting the rules. They need a reminder of their place."
"You're welcome." She picked up her purse and rubbed her bare shoulders. Bad time to go without a jacket, "Karen said I should take a break for a bit so if you need anything else you can take it up with her."
"I'm aware. We share memories." The lack of privacy wasn't creepy or anything, no sir, "Take care of yourself, Norah. I'd hate for you to reach paradise before your time comes."
"Pfft, as if someone like me's going to the pearly gates." She was pretty sure enabling MJ and Frank disqualified her.
"You'd be surprised." Ruth smiled. Unlike Karen it lacked any sense of warmth was completely eerie, "Enjoy your rest, Norah, you deserve it."
Norah left the library and debated on which safehouse she'd crash at next when her phone buzzed. She tapped the screen and raised a brow when Eugene's name popped up. She gave him and Gabe her numbers just in case they had any leads on anything but Frog-Boy never actually used it. Too busy trying to be the next big hero like every other wannabe costume nowadays.
Even more surprising, he was talking about a lead and asked to meet at a coffee shop not too far off. She considered telling him she was busy but she figured that it wouldn't hurt to at least hear him out. Maybe he was being sincere.
The coffee place wasn't anything spectacular. Norah got a hot mocha latte and sat across Frog-Boy on the corner booth, "Hey, kid." She took a quick gulp of her caffeinated drink. He looked awful. There were dark bags under his eyes and his skin was pasty white - obvious signs of not getting enough sleep, "No offense, but you look like you've seen better days."
"Yeah, I just...I haven't really had time to relax." He forced a smile and took his own sip of hot chocolate, "A-Anyway, I was, uh, I need your help."
"You mentioned that in your message. Wanna give me more details."
"Okay, uh, there's this site." He tapped his hands on the table nervously, "It's one of those places on the dark web, you know? It's-"
"I know what the dark web is." She rubbed the scar on her cheek self-conciously. Creepy old fucker with the dolls... "The question is how you know what the dark web is. You do realize that's not a place you go to for funsies."
"Y-Yeah, I know. Gabriel helped me out. His setup is good." That they could agree on, at least, "B-But anyway, there's this site, like I said. There's this guy, calls himself Jekyll, he says he has Terrigen Mist and can give people powers. Me and a bunch of other guys were really into it a few weeks bac back before..." He shook his head, "Point is, this guy was offering powers and people were in."
"So it's a sketch site. What makes you so worried?" She'd seen a bunch of sites advertising powers even outside of the dark web. People will fall for anything these days.
"Me and a buncha guys thought we'd check it out, like I said. There was a bunch of us, we met at a Harmony group chat. I logged back in a couple of days ago and like ten of those guys were gone. They haven't shown up at all online the past week."
"Eugene, I hate to tell you this, but that's what happens sometimes with net friends. Sometimes they just drop off the grid."
"No, no, not these guys. They were there every day. I-I asked around and apparently they all got messages from that Jekyll mod and then they just disappeared." Eugene took a deep breath, "I-I mean these guys were obsessed with getting powers. And since I haven't heard anything about people with new powers showing up there has to be a reason they're just gone."
"You think they're in danger?" Norah's eyes narrowed.
"Yeah, I do." Eugene nodded, "This Jekyll guy...I dunno, maybe he kidnapped them or something? Cause it doesn't make any sense to me that ten people just disappear all in one week. There's no way it's a coincidence." He finished his drink and took another deep breath, "I'm really worried, okay? No one really cares when a bunch of randoms on the net just disappear but these guys might be in danger."
It could've been nothing, but could they really take that risk?
...Damn it.
"Alright, send me everything you know in this email." She wrote it down on a piece of paper and handed it to him, "I'll have to go back to my place. We'll keep in contact via phones. I'll find out as much as I can and investigate." She gave him a pointed look, "And by the way, I don't wanna see any kind of costume or camera anywhere near this thing. You dress up and you're on your own, got it?"
"I got it."
"Good. Now let's get outta here, we need to start asap."
Well...so much for a vacation. Hey, at least she was doing this herself this time. Frank could suck it.
There we go. A bit of an exploration on Norah's dynamics with both Punisher and Karen and a setup tying heavily to Mary Jane's plotline. I'm actually pretty close to ending MJ's 'main plot', so to speak, meaning that she'll get less focus and appear more as a supporting character for the other protags.
Anyway, as I was writing this chapter I kinda realized there isn't a single normal person in this story's cast. Every hero or supporting character either has a dark past, horrible present, or terrible future waiting for them. Or all three, in Matt's case. Even Norah, who started off relatively stable, is pointed out in this chapter to have slipped into vigilantism and spycraft with a nonexistent normal life.
Questions:
1. What would you guys think of a Girls Night Out nd Boys Night Out chapters? For the former it'd be the four main female protagonists having fun and doing some lighthearted save the city stuff. For the latter it'd be Noir, Moon Knight, Matt and Iron Fist actually hanging out and maybe doing some actual hero work instead of brooding at a bar not talking to each other.
I could also do a beach chapter, but that's far less of a draw. Fanservice is pretty hard to write in without a visual medium.
2. Do you guys as readers consider Matt and Peter friends? Just curious how people view their interactions.
Review Answers:
- Judging by her comments on using webs before it kinda indicates she's been on the other end. Her reason for doing it here was an experiment on how he subconsciously reacts to contact.
rc48177 - Then again Noir's main allies for his story are the Defenders who...aren't very stable or trustworthy.
Yorhart Meltz - Not a fan of Mahou Shoujo Spider-Man?
Cyclopz - Carnage did have that edge during Volume 1. By Volume 2 they've been together for over a year so of course Carnage would be blunted and more in tune with Mary Jane.
henchman213 - The symbiotes being OP is kind of the point, though. Earth-65 is canonically very underpowered and in the Gwenverse comic Gwen herself refers to it as a 'low super setting'. This is why Gyrich is so willing to give MJ a pass for her past murder sprees and why Captain America really wanted Gwen on the team alongside other supers. They're simply too valuable to ignore.
While it does make writing fight scenes for these two rather difficult I usually try to focus on either their mindset (Mary Jane) or the idea that while they themselves are near-unbeatable their loved ones are not (Gwen).
