The Savage Scarlet Spider.
Chapter 4: Yacht Nacht.
"Here." Felicia tosses a fancy suit my way and I catch it, the material way too expensive even for me. I shimmy on the dress shirt and dress pants. The shoes are too big for me. I hope I don't slip. I get on the suit coat and try to button it. Felicia's nearby, but I don't need to look. Once I got that done, there's a tap on my shoulder.
"Turn around." Felicia says and I turn, seeing her in a black dress, hair sweeping down her back as a wave of snow in an avalanche. Her blue eyes gleam and she caresses my cheek with a smooth hand. She snags a comb from a gaudy handbag worth more than my apartment and yanks it through my sloppy hair.
She flattens it as thoroughly as she can, and with a smile she plants a soothing kiss on my lips as we jog over into the line, an invitation in her hand. I stay there blushing heavily at the peck. How tender it was. She turns to watch me, skirt billowing.
"Okay, cover story, you're my boyfriend and I'm here representing my dad. Let me do the talking and DON'T go off on your own, okay?" She draws me close with her hands on my cheeks.
"I want to make sure you're safe at your first serious party." She presses another kiss to my forehead. My cheeks warm as she hugs my arm, though. Felicia's acting, but this is just right. I try to keep my hair out of my way. We stride forward and she holds out the invitation, smirking with an enthralling elegance to her gait and assurance through the roof.
Like goddamn she's absolutely gorgeous. Here I am all gawky and skinny in a suit way too big for me. This is just one thing that I gotta do.
The bouncers are massive, "Miss Hardy." one of them drawls, his skull shaped kinda similar to a hammer's bulbed end. He bows his head, "Go on ahead with Mister ah…"
"Reilly!" I blurt, "Mister Reilly."
"Got it." the bouncer waves us through, "Have fun."
I sigh and Felicia smiles at me, "Nice catch, Spider."
"Gee, it seems I'm good at thinking on my toes." I follow her into the ballroom on this yacht. It's wide, bigger than what I thought a yacht could hold.
Fancy with food towards the window and a lively symphony playing the smooth tones of Fly me to the Moon. Felicia grabs my hand and pulls me onto the dance floor, dancing to the music with me, sweeping me through the room, her hand running through pockets and purses. Gems, watches, an errant bill here and there. All I could think about was her happy smile.
Draped in baubles, marked with gold, framed by her platinum blonde hair. She laughs warm and sweet, leading me close with the most gleeful smile I've ever seen on her face. She robbed them blind! How cool is that?! She packs her handbag full of the riches, and winks at me.
"Thanks," she grins and I wander off to eat some food. Of course I stay in her sightline. If anything goes wrong, web up and move out. The food is absolutely killer and I practically pack my plate full of it.
The phrase 'Eat the Rich' has an entirely different meaning to me now, now it's just 'Eat from the Rich.' I eat all kinds of fancy stuff, ignoring the drinks. Deep down I never wanted this night to end. Felicia and I… We'd probably end up crashing and burning, but just pretending sucks. I'm nowhere near as rich as her, or skilled as her. But still I don't care. Born weak, raised to be strong, gonna die weak. But fuck that noise. I'm gonna take this as far as I can go.
I lean against the railing of the yacht, the waves amber from the sunset over the bay. Thinking of how I should be home. You know, grounded like a good kid is. But of course she came to my fire escape, unlatched the window, and plucked my mostly achy little body out of there and carried me all the way out here.
I see a man in a gray and black suit, pale as marble and red eyes locked on me as I sip at a root beer. His hair is white too. He's got the body of a solid wall. My Spider Sense prickles and I tense slightly. When he walks over, I act naturally. Quickly going back to normal. My senses still lightly prickle. The man settles next to me. He's massive. Tall and imposing but he sits so normally.
"First time?"
"Yeah."
"Gotcha," he nods and holds out a pale hand, "L. Thompson Lincoln."
I take it, it's cool and rough, "Ben Reilly." We shake hands and he turns back to the bar front as I take a sip of my soda.
"You're pretty young to be at one'a these." he breaks the silence and I fall right back to the normal excuse. Almost as easily as I relax.
"I'm here with my girlfriend." he nods and faces the front again. For a mafia guy he sure is shy. That or watching for something.
"Hm. Figured I'd bend your ear about something, Ben."
"What?" he rests a cool, rough paw on my shoulder. Consuming it in weight. He smiles down at me with sharp, almost filed teeth. It's like he sharpened them to look terrifying.
"I know you're new at this. So listen a bit to what Uncle Tombstone has to say." he growls just a little. His voice is smooth but thick, grave with the slight rusty rumble of a mausoleum door. He's the grim reaper and I'm a little spider boy in a suit way too big and way too expensive.
"You should quit this." he says, his smile dropping, "It ain't suited for a kid like you."
"I got something to do." I almost say, but I hold it back because I don't want to reveal what I was after and Mr. Lincoln probably already knew by how apologetic he looks about it.
"I understand what it's like to be alone an' ostracized. Bein' who I am with the covering I've got." he says with an almost understanding tone in his voice, "You're glass, kid. A lotta these guys will snap ya like a twig."
"Decent kids like you'll turn out dead, so I'm just gonna say this, if you push hard enough…" his grip on my shoulder tightens lightly and there's a dull pain.
"You'll end up a stain, past tense." he snarls with that same overly dulcet and grave rumble tone. I resist the urge to gulp and show fear. I can't. Not now and never again. He's right here and I can probably take him!
Nah, that's fucking stupid. Dumb and irresponsible too. Fighting a guy like him is just going to lead to me being flattened. Then I see him. The sharp blue eyes of Norman Osborn pierce into me from across the room. A predatory smile stretches on his face.
"See, my boss wants you to know that he's been keepin' tabs on that little Spider. And well, judgin' by your build n' how bulky yer legs look… you're him."
I keep down the anger and the fear. Almost choking it down as Mr. Lincoln pats me hard on the back. I stumble and he swaggers away. My steps amble and pitch over to Felicia who's over on the side loading up a bag.
"What's wrong?" she asks, her eyes full of stars about the haul we have. I place my hands on her shoulders, ready to vault over the damn railing and swim back to the island if need be.
"Osborn's here!" I hiss, "I think he knows!"
"Okay? We need to go, 'cause… well…"
That's when all hell broke loose. A bunch of guys charge right for us. One of them yells and I immediately snap into action. Thinking fast.
"HEY!"
I grab Felicia, hoisting her and the bag into my arms and just dive right for the waves. Here goes nothing! Go go gadget webs! A grapple line shoots out and we slingshot off the boat with my webline snapping, my legs popping out of my suit jacket and dress shirt.
"Felicia! Drop the bag!"
She looks at me in total shock, "WHAT?! NO!"
"We need the surface tension!" I yell back, "Some Spiders can move on water!" Felicia still holds onto the haul, my legs trying to keep us over the water but the weight slowly killing the momentum.
"Felicia, I swear I will let you go back for it!" I yell back before losing the tension and screaming right for the waves but before we hit the water something catches my hand. It's an armored man thing!
Great, Iron Man…
"Need a lift, Kitty Cat?" the voice sounds a little older than us, more assured and cocky.
Okay so not Iron Man. Felicia glares at him and I can't believe the next words out of her mouth because we're dangling over the water and explaining how I got this wet is going to be a fucking NIGHTMARE to explain to Mom and Dad.
"Over my dead body, Arsene!"
I could hear the cocky smarm emanating from his voice, "Oh really? Let's see what your Spider thinks! What's the play?"
"Do it!" I demand as his thrusters lift us high above and he guides us back to shore with a flourish. His armor is silver and black, and his helmet isn't really a helmet, it's more of a tinted windowed thing.
He tosses us away, "THANK ME LATER, KITTY CAT!" he calls, zooming back towards the yacht with something in his hands. My wrist feels lighter…
"My watch…" I breathe, shit. Shit and shinola that was my Dad's watch that he gave to me! What the shit?
"Arsene…" Felicia growls, shouldering the bag and grabbing me, grappling a line and jetting us to the top of a building. She digs in the bag as I settle on the edge of it. It's a bottle of champagne.
Felicia holds the bottle gently between her hands, popping the cork and it speeds through the air, "A toast to a heist well done!" She tips the bottle and drinks it liberally, her eyes meeting mine before snatching my face and pulling me close, kissing me. It tastes almost sickly sweet as she lets the Champagne pour into my mouth, I don't want to swallow but here she is giving me a taste. I struggle to swallow it down, the burning sensation shaking throughout my body.
Coughing, hacking, doubling over as Felicia softly rubs my back, "There we go, there we go, easy does it~!" she purrs, nuzzling into my shoulder, "There we go, Spidey…"
"God that felt like shit!" Hack wheeze, "What in the hell was that?!"
"The high life, Jackyboy, the high life." She's so close to me, arms around my body, chin resting on my shoulder. Her hair softly billows in the breeze, her blue eyes serene and taking in the rest of the city far below us.
I lean into her embrace, "Felicia, it feels like you've been here forever." There's a dopey smile on my face, I just know there is. I don't know if it's the alcohol but she's still clinging to me in that black dress of her's.
Every time she hugs me like this my body almost goes into Jell-O Mode, just every single time I get the happy tingles and bam! I'm fucking LIMP. And she's so pretty, drinking more of it and staring me in the eyes. She rests her chin on the top of my head.
"Just imagine it, Jack, Paris… Vegas… the whole world for the taking. Just you and me. No more Osborns, no more Lawrences, no more parents telling you to grin and bear it 'cause we're kids." she laces her fingers together, kissing my temple, moving down to my cheek.
"Running. We'd be running." I look at her and she kisses my lips, pulling me close and her tongue darts in close, her breathy moan sounding out when she pushes deeper. God, what the fuck is this girl? Her nails scratch at my scalp, forcing me forward and kissing my neck.
"Please… please say yes…" she breathes, grinding her teeth against the soft skin of my neck, "Please run away with me, Jack…" Her kisses and nips send tingles through me and all I can do is sit there and think as she does it, think about saying yes.
Think about leaving it all behind and becoming a thief like her. She's gotta be drunk but it sounds so good. Just me and her, the Spider and the Cat. Just being together. Running from place to place, stealing things, it all sounds too good. I look out at the city, remembering the Shocker, how Osborn sent Tombstone over to threaten me.
"Jack? What's the verdict, baby?"
"I'm not running away. What if Osborn comes after my family? I gotta protect them! I gotta protect the city from whatever my Spider Sense keeps going off about! I know you mean well, I know you have feelings for me, but whatever you want to do… I can't do it." Felicia sighs, looking hurt. She kisses me on the forehead, her body warm but I just wanted her to know that I can't just leave. Her warmth fades away and I get to my feet, smiling down at her.
"Have a good night, Felicia. I love you!" She doesn't answer as I sling away, going towards home. Does she really love me? Some part of me wishes she really did.
But who am I to make her love me? I'm too weak, too good for her. I'm not the guy she wants. I'm not and never will be. But I wish I was. I wish to God I was, even with my Spider Powers.
I love her.
Dammit. Felicia lays back on the roof, letting a laugh come out of her lips. The wind breathing down on her tipsy face and she stares at the bottle in her hand, opening her mouth and pouring the last into it, swallowing bitterly.
Fuck. He knew. That rich, showy bastard of a cousin knew that she had Jack. And he WAS a bastard. And she didn't even say goodnight to her spider?! What kind of monster is she?! Felicia sighs, puts the bottle back into the bag, and shoulders it.
"I love you too, Spider."
She grapples off into the night.
The drive to school isn't so bad, Eddie joins me by sitting next to me on the bus, drumming his hands like crazy against the seat like he had someone to watch for. But I know it's probably excitement over how cool my weekend was.
"You got to drink? And eat a bunch of fancy shit while Felicia stole all kindsa things?" He almost looks like he's about to ask to join me.
"Yeah, then we had to escape and some guy named Arsene helped us out, he stole my Dad's watch." I stare out the window, "Felicia wanted me to run away with her to Paris or Vegas. Somewhere."
Eddie blinks, "Red flag."
"Fuck off."
"It IS." he nudges me, "You and I both know yer folks wouldn't let that fly."
I sigh and look back at him, he winds his arm around my shoulders, "Look, Jack, I know you like Felicia."
"Yeah, so fuck off. It's my issue and I'm gonna solve it my way. If I need some blackmail or some records I'll ask you." I wiggle my hand, "Maybe this is just trouble in paradise."
Eddie nods, "Or maybe the whole thing about Oscorp is making you realize all she wants you for is for the itsy bitsy spider that bit you."
"Yeah, maybe." A moment passes where I think that's what everyone's been yelling at me about since this whole thing started. She's definitely in some kind of competition with that Arsene guy. The bus slows down in front of the school and we get off. Everything kind of becomes distant as we walk together in the halls. My mind on Felicia.
Did she really love me? Is this all just a sick joke? Mom and Dad, Eddie… they weren't wrong before. It's gotta be something different, right?
My mind buzzes and thrums with all the bad thoughts in third period drama class. The auditorium buzzed with the thoughts of her with someone else or anyone else. Away from me or not. I don't want to think about that too much.
Mr. Beck's first actual class is going to be today. I hope he can swing well with us as we did with Mrs. Kirby trying so hard to be Sondheim. It was really refreshing to me to see Mr. Beck instead.
"Gooooood Mornnningggg, ACTORS AND ACTRESSES!" he yells, grinning widely, we all go in as he follows us in the middle. He's very high energy for a high school teacher but it's a fun change from Mrs. Kirby, who was notoriously known as the Beast of the Drama Department. He grins and swings up onto the stage, sitting with his legs hanging down.
"So, I'm your new teacher, Quentin Beck. Special effects supervisor and coordinator on a lot of movies. Also directed a few if you've seen Nightwatchers, which you shouldn't."
"I liked it!" Maxie calls.
"No you didn't kid, you're lying." Mr. Beck answers. He smiles and gets out the roll, blue eyes twinkling.
"Alright… do de do… Roll call." he states, going down the list until he gets to me, "Jack Parker?"
"Here sir!" I try to raise my hand but it gives up halfway and begins to hurt. He watches me do that and gets a little concerned.
"Is there something up, Parker?" he asks.
"I got a condition, Cerebral Palsy, it's uh… acting up." I heat up and he nods.
"Gotcha gotcha."
"Alright, got it." He puts down the roll and takes a look at the set behind him up on the stage. Our school's production of Hamlet is raring to go.
"Hm. Looking at the cast list we have Laertes being Osborn and Hamlet being Parker. Ophelia being Allen and King Claudius being Jaysen Lawrence." he continues, "Polonius… is Max Dillon, Gertrude is Gwen Stacy, hm…"
He tosses the castlist away, crumpling it before he does, "Nah, we aren't doing Shakespeare."
"WHAT?!" Harry yells, with Gwen, Liz, Maxie, and me joining in.
"We're more than halfway done!" Liz objects, "You can't just stop it!"
"Look at Parker! Who wants to see a barely able to move Hamlet try to duel Laertes?" he asks with everyone falling dead quiet. I wobble to my feet and Harry gets to his feet. Anger fills me but I swallow it down in my tone.
"We've been practicing for weeks, sir." I say, "So lemme show you how we do it." I stretch and get up on stage with Harry. He grabs the prop foils and I take one.
"If you wanna back out, don't hesitate to throw the match." Harry says, "I know you've had it hard lately."
"Don't worry… I won't let it slow me down." I get into my stance, my body seems to correct itself. Adrenaline fills me as I shoot forward, catching Harry in the routine, exchanging blow after blow and beat after beat.
We knew this by heart. Even if Hamlet was supposed to lose I wanted to make people root for him to win. It was my idea to make Hamlet not insane, but driven. A man who just wanted revenge. Strike like a man with everything on the line. Strike with your very soul! We clash, and Harry slips out the 'poisoned' dagger, but before it can strike home, my body flips me over him and lands on the other side.
My legs threaten to extend with my stingers but I keep them back. My drool sucking back in. I can't use them here. I know they want to help but I can't let them do that.
Harry lunges and I still bat him back. He's getting tired but I still keep going, until he's on the ground. As we practiced, this version of Hamlet has our prince inches from victory. Seconds even. Yet he gets too cocky.
"Surrender, Laertes! May your death finally bring peace to mine father's very soul!" I intone with power in my voice. Foil at Harry's neck and poised to finish him. Gasping a little, selling my tiredness.
"Never, Hamlet! This is for my father!" he snarls, 'stabbing' me with the poisoned dagger. I look at Mr. Beck with a smile. He's stunned, his blue eyes wide and he runs his hand through his hair in sheer shock.
I love proving people wrong. He starts clapping and grinning. Fuck yeah, thats me! That's Jack Parker right there!
"Good job, Parker! How'd you flip like that?" he asks.
"Yeah, that wasn't in the routine…" Liz comments, "Are you sure you can still do it?"
I nod with a grin, "Have a little faith, guys!" I hop right back up and my aching goes away. Guess I get a little messed up if I push too hard. I sit down with a soft groan, my body still a little tender from the practice but Mr. Beck walks over to me, kneeling down to my level.
"Hey, Parker." he says.
"Yeah?" I huff, "What, Mr. Beck?"
"Sorry about the whole 'Barely moving Hamlet' thing. I was kinda… insensitive. I'm used to yapping at interns that get stuff wrong and all that. So… this is still new to me." he reaches out his hand.
"Are we square?" he asks.
"Yep." I say, shaking his hand.
"Good." he answers, "You make a good Hamlet." he jogs off to Harry and I take a drink of water. This is something else. Normally I don't do that well in the physical scenes but here I am doing well. More than well actually.
"Hey, Jack!" Liz calls to me, beaming from the top of the stage where her and Maxie are fixing the lights. I rush over to the narrow, tiny staircase to get up there, my web slats itching to be used but that'd just make more people know about my powers than they do already.
I get up to them, Liz's dark brown hair tied up in a messy ponytail with Maxie beside her, his dark eyes focused intently on the spotlight flickering all out of sorts.
"Whaddya need, Max? Liz?" I grin and kneel down, sliding down to lay on my stomach, looking at the frayed extension cord. It doesn't take an electrician like Maxie's dad to see that as a problem, but even then the one thing keeping the light steady is loose.
"Hey uh… Liz? I'mma go down and get us a new cord and a screwdriver." I pop up and she waves me off before flouncing after me.
"Wait wait wait. We all know you trip over them." she smiles and takes my wrist, "Come on." she and I head down towards the maintenance closet, Mr. Beck running through more scenes with Jaysen and Harry.
She turns on the light and I hold open the door for her, "Ladies first, Ms. Allen."
"Why Parker, I never took you for a gentleman!" she heads in and I head in behind her, closing the door so we can both look. She and I were pretty much headliners since the beginning of the year, Mrs. Kirby had us do a scene from Sweeney Todd and we knocked it out.
Now it's me and her in a utility closet digging for a screwdriver and an extension cord. She smiles and glances at me.
"So, you and Felicia?" she asks.
"What about us?" there's a little bit of hostility but Liz just giggles.
"I just never thought you'd be into her, that's all!"
I shake my head, "Come on, Lizzie…"
She gently grabs my shoulder, "Jack, come on, you can tell me what's wrong. I'm sure Eddie and your parents know, but… I wanna know too." she squeezes it and despite the ache I force a smile.
"We're fine, Liz. Don't worry about me. You've been my friend for what? All of this week?"
"And she's been your girlfriend out of nowhere for like, a… a few weeks, too!" she sputters out a laugh and I'm trying really hard not to be harsh but when everyone's been bothering me about this shit I've started to grow really tired of it.
"Listen, I love Felicia. I'm sick and tired of everyone doubting it. If I'm heading for heartbreak, let it happen!" My hands clench into fists, "I've already had enough of it."
Liz sighs, "Jack, you-"
My Spider Sense screams to life and I bound out the door to the main auditorium. The spotlight is careening right for Harry and Jaysen! I sprint right for them and shove Harry out of the way. My fist snaps right into the side of the thing, bashing it right into the trash. Blood spills down onto the wood and stinging takes over my senses.
"Owww…" I hiss. A mass of webbing shoots out and covers my hand almost like a bandage.
"Whoa Parker! Are you okay?" Mr. Beck asks, "Oh holy shit…"
I hide it from everyone, "I'm! I'm fine! Don't worry! It's just blood!" I amble towards the door and push it open with my free hand. I run out into the hall and duck into the nearest boy's bathroom. Sliding against the door and closing my eyes.
"Stupid. Stupid. Stupid." I slam the back of my head into the door softly, "God I should've let it hit him, now the rumor mill is gonna be spinning."
"And now I'm talking to myself. Great."
"Jusssstttt greaaaat."
That's when a text brings me out of my thoughts. My shredded hand was my weaker hand so my Dominant would have to do. It's Felicia.
Felicia: We need to talk. Lunch.
Cool.
I hang down my phone and groan, "This day just keeps on hitting ya, Jack…"
"I'll cut to the chase, Felicia." I sit down across from her and she leans against her hand. She doesn't look hungover but considering how lopsided her clothes are I think she is. Her eyes aren't bleary but I want to make this serious.
"Yeah?" she asks, smiling and grabbing my injured hand, I tore off the webbing and ended up getting it bandaged. Luckily for me I didn't need stitches. Her smile almost distracts me but I steel myself.
"Do you love me, Felicia?"
She considers it. Her eyes wandering and her hand lightly tracing mine. She's thinking. She should have an answer.
"I should clarify… Do you love me or do you love the Spider?"
Felicia considers it some more and already I want to just cut it off and tell her what I think. This is dumb. This is so dumb. I'm so dumb. I suck in a breath and she cuts me off.
"I love the Spider…" she admits.
"There! Was that so damn hard?!" I want to yell but that hurts. It tears into me, ripping me to shreds and making me wish I didn't get so whisked away on thoughts of it ever working out. I was right, they were right.
I stand up, "Don't bother calling me, Felicia…" I hiss out, barely holding back tears. Even if it was a whirlwind, I really DO like her. I dry my face and grab my lunch, walking away and realizing she left me something in my hand.
A Metallica button for my vest.
I look back and she's still sitting at our table, I almost want to go back but I shake it out of me. No. I know what she wanted. She wanted to use me as a distraction. She wanted to use me as a pawn in her chess game with the Not-Iron-Man Arsene guy.
"Thanks for the button, Felicia." I nod and pop in my earphones, pumping in Cast No Shadow by Oasis. My romance with Felicia was fast and loud, too much all at once. All I need now is to figure out what to do with myself.
Heading home at the end of the day I see Dad out on the stoop, whittling away at a block of wood, carving it into something. He dusts it away and glances up at me.
"Hey."
I smile, "Hey dad."
"You've been crying?" he asks as I sit at the middle step. After lunch there was no end to the emotional wreckage for me. It was just a snowball. A huge, raging thing that just rolled and rolled and rolled into a big ball of emotions that just made me uncomfortable.
"Yeah…" I hang my head and he moves down to sit next to me.
"It was hard, wasn't it?"
"She got me a button."
"No…!" Dad feigns shock and sees it right where the old one was. He sighs and hugs me with one arm.
"Kid, I know you did your best. You tried to make it work, but it broke way too quick. The thing is, you gotta grow a little more. Maybe you'll reconsider, but one more thing…" he squeezes my shoulder.
"With great power, comes great responsibility."
I snicker, almost losing it right then and there, "Where'd you get that, a fortune cookie?"
"Nah, just some Ben Parker Wisdom." he shows me what he's been carving. It looks like a little figurine of a man. Not me but I think he's been trying to do something more than just construction for a while now.
"You remind me of my carving here, he's not all there, you're not all there. You don't know what you want."
Ain't that the truth? Felicia comes in, bursts down my comfy little exploratory corner, and ends up busting my world wide open. Dad hands it to me.
"Keep it. It'll remind ya of what I said."
I take it and he stands up, opening the door and holding it open.
"Come on, killer."
I get up, pocket the figure, and head inside.
Felicia tosses her backpack to the bed, frustration burning within her. Spreading and catching things alight inside like a house going up with gasoline. God, what a miserable little sentence that was.
She loves the Spider?! 'What the FUCK, FELICIA?! He was barely holding back tears! You made him cry!' she thinks, pulling out her phone, 'I can call him! That's it! Get him back, give him more buttons! He likes those, right?!'
"Hey this is Jack Parker, I ain't at the phone right n-"
Dammit.
Fuck.
Nice going, Felicia.
She sinks down to her bed and there's a burning in her eyes as tears pour out. What a miserable little thing she was. Thinking she could just say that and think that Jack would take that well.
"What do I do…?" she sniffles, "Come on, think!"
"Use that big brain of yours and think!"
'Get to know him, Felicia. Get to know him. That's it!' she smiles and flips her hair over her shoulder, 'I came on way too strongly and he backed out! Time for a more… subtle approach.'