[CARNAGE] ARC

CHAPTER 17

Reconnecting the Web

Flash lets out a noise of understanding before clearing his throat. "Well, I need to get back to my normal schedule. I'm trying to do some regimens every morning you see. Later, Parker, Miss Watson!"

He runs off as you hear Mary Jane let out a sigh of relief. Looking back at her, it seems she has a bandage wrapped around her hand. "Is your hand alright?"

Mary Jane's hand retracts into her sleeve like she was bitten as she looks anywhere but you. "..eah, fne…"

Seems like she's not wanting to talk about it, but if it was a problem Aunt May would have mentioned it, considering she was at Anna Watson's yesterday. When you arrive at school, you see a familiar figure standing out front looking around. When she sees you, she waves calling out.

"There you are, Peter!"

Standing there in a short skirt with a coat over it is Felicia Hardy grinning and waving at you.

You blink, lift up your glasses, and look again. Yeah, she's standing there, grinning wider as she approaches you, bouncing on the balls of her feet excitedly before pausing, a devious look in her eyes as your spider sense slightly tingles, almost unnoticeable next to the haywire storm that is Mary Jane.

You stare her in the eyes, but don't move. You hold your ground as you face her down. In the back of your mind, a tumbleweed passes by with that old wild west theme. Felicia smirks before tensing, falling back onto her heels before pouncing at you in a tackle-hug.

You're more than strong enough to hold up to her assault and stay standing as she wraps her arms around you. You hear a gasp behind you as Felicia tightens her hug. You glance backwards as best you can to see Mary Jane staring in shock at you- a look of disbelief on her face.

"…wwhhaaa!"

It's the loudest exclamation you've heard from her yet as she stares at you like you're made from non-Euclidean geometry. Felicia lets go, staring at Mary Jane curiously before cocking an eyebrow and glancing at you, gesturing at your neighbor with her thumb.

"Who's she?"

A grin crosses your face as you wrap your arm around Felicia's shoulder and gesture at your old… acquaintance with the other as you raise your voice a little. "…..Haaaave you met Mary Jane?"

Felicia stares at you, long and hard. "You are not bro-zoning me are you? Because I am not okay with that, nor am I into girls."

She then turns to Mary Jane and gives her a smile. "Hey there, I'm Felicia Hardy. Pleased to meet you!"

Mary Jane's pupils contract as she tries to give a smile. "….."

After a few seconds, Mary Jane pantomimes looking at a watch before running off into the school. Felicia looks at you, slightly disturbed. "Was it something I said? She didn't even have a watch on."

You can only shake your head as you glance at your actual watch. Funnily enough, you should be heading in if you want to reach class in time.

"Um, Felicia, so what's your story, so I have it straight?"

She grins. "I'm Felicia Hardy, Felix Hardy' fraternal twin. When the ruckus happened at school, Felix's health deteriorated so as a cost saving measure while he was sent to a hospital in California that can better deal with him, I was pulled out of my all-girls private school and sent here. I met you while you were seeing Felix before he left and we hit it off."

"It isn't too far off the mark, so it wasn't hard to make records appear. Anyway, see you later, there's stuff I have to take care of."

Her voice is quiet as the two of you walk into the school and head your respective ways. You stop by your locker and open it to grab your books, but they're out of their normal order, oddly. You glance at your watch to see you have about five minutes until Chemistry.

You glance over the books, trying to see if there was any method to the rearrangement, but there doesn't seem to be any you can notice. You flip through the books looking for anything and you almost miss it, but it seems like two pages have been taped together in one of your books- your chemistry book- and seem slightly thicker than two pages should be. Carefully removing the tape, you open them to see a small piece of paper with a familiar handwriting on it. With little effort, you realize that the two pages taped are pages for the chapter you're currently in at chemistry.

The handwriting, you're pretty sure you recognize the methodical, printed script as that of Gwen's handwriting. There's a message on the note with today's date.

-Roof, Lunch.

And that's all on it. You quickly head to class and sit down in your seat. A few moments later, instead of Mister Lee, there's someone else there. The man looks rather unremarkable and unenthused, his short brown hair barely combed and is beginning to look messy.

He yawns.

"Greetings. I'm Herman Shultz, your new substitute chemistry teacher. Mister Lee, following the events of last week has decided to take a leave of absence and I will be filling in for him. First of all, let me announce the student Felix Hardy has been withdrawn and we have a late entry, who is apparently his sister."

His voice is droning and uninspired as Felicia is gestured in and sat in Felix's old spot. The teacher quickly picks up the lesson, but his droning, unenthused voice is almost enough to make YOU fall asleep. When the class finally ends, he takes a long look at the clock. "Now, remember to read the next chapter, there might be a pop quiz on Monday."

You don't have time to stay, as his slow talking has put you over the end of class and everyone rushes to not be late to their next one. Eventually, it's time for lunch.

You look around to find Felicia and see her waiting outside the cafeteria for you. As you approach, she smiles. "Hey, want to grab lunch together?"

You shake your head and show her the note. "I might be finding out more on the situation from Gwen."

She bites her lip, looking displeased before eventually nodding her head. "Alright, be careful."

You head off and manage to find your way outside, out of view of anyone. Which, considering the higher security there is here- which is to say there IS security here. Looking around to make sure nobody sees you, you stay out of the range of any cameras and climb to the roof, where you see Gwen sitting there.

When you approach her, she looks up and tries to give you a smile, but instead ends up giving you a depressed look. "Hey… been a while, huh?"

You give Gwen a neutral look. "…Yeah, I guess you could say that."

She winces, looking away. "I probably deserve that, all things considered."

You sit down next to her. "Look, I probably screwed things up and made it worse for you, but I tried my best to help you. But, you wouldn't respond, despite the fact that you know you can trust me. But, with everything that's happened, I need to know who this guy is and what I'm dealing with, and how I can help you out."

Gwen remains silent for little while before speaking. "Look, it began as a bunch of notes. Some of them were flattering or poetry but I always threw them out. Eventually, they became more biting and they grew worse whenever I showed interest in a guy. So, that's all it was I thought. Then the cameras came in after the Black Cat incident and I've wanted to tell you, or my dad, but that STUPID sense would act like it's boring into my head whenever I tried, so I always didn't do anything!"

She freezes, her voice cracking as she takes a moment to compose herself. "And the more and more things went on, the worse it would get, so I tried to not talk to you because that sense would bore into my head anytime I did. Ever since I went home from your house that one night, it seems to have been getting worse and worse. And now, after that scene on the TV, I realized how bad I screwed up by not doing anything- If I'd said something, maybe those people-"

She cuts off, drawing up her knees and wrapping her arms around them, hiding her face. When she speaks again, her voice is quiet, hoarse and full of fury.

"When I find whoever is behind this, I'm going to make sure they won't be able to hurt anyone ever again."

You put a hand on her shoulder. "This wasn't your fault. Whoever the Hobgoblin is, whatever his relationship is to the person who has been tormenting you- you don't just up and decide to kill a bunch of people and write a note with their organs, you already have to be all kinds of crazy.

"If I'm right, your stalker escalated the way he did because he was worried he was about to be found out. If you had said something he would have just struck sooner. And I'm the one who provoked Hobgoblin by fighting him. Nothing that has happened here is because you didn't react properly. Don't let this eat you up on the inside.

You feel her shoulder shaking beneath your hand. Her arms loosen from around her legs as she slowly lowers them back down.

"Don't worry though. I'm going to catch that monster. I won't let either of them hurt anyone else."

Her arms wrap around you as she sobs into your chest, gripping you in a crushing hug.

You gently pat her on the back, making sure to not make it too intimate, until her sobs finally dry up. She pulls back, eyes red and puffy and nose running as she wipes at her eyes with her sleeves.

"Thanks, Peter."

You give her a nod. "No problem, what are friends for?"

Gwen remains sitting there. You can hear the lunch bell ringing. It'd probably be best to get back to class, but it seems like Gwen's thinking about something. Your shoulder also is wet from tears and snot, so that might not be the best thing to go into class with but you think of something.

"Gwen, you should go get an unlisted disposable cell phone like I do. It'd allow us to at least keep in contact."

Gwen glances at you before nodding and standing up."

"I've got something I need to do, Peter. I'll see you later."

She jumps off the side of the roof after looking around. You sit there for a second.

Reluctantly, you head back to class, after stopping by the restroom to clean off your shirt as best as you can. The rest of the day passes uneventfully and finally the last bell rings, letting you out of school for the day.

You put away your books and grab your backpack- you're ready to go. Buses are boarding, and will probably take off within the next five minutes.

You glance around, looking for Felicia's silver hair. It doesn't take long, considering he's heading right for you after spotting you. She gives you a smile.

"Hey, Peter."

You give her a nod. "Felicia. How was your day?"

She shrugs. "It was alright, though I did miss you at lunch. Also, Mary Jane seems to be very nervous and runs away when I talk to her. Is something the matter?"

You grimace. "She's not great with people."

She nods in understanding before looking at you more seriously. "Did you want to do some work today, or are you busy?"

You glance around, looking for Felicia's silver hair. It doesn't take long, considering he's heading right for you after spotting you. She gives you a smile.

"Hey, Peter."

You give her a nod. "Felicia. How was your day?"

She shrugs. "It was alright, though I did miss you at lunch. Also, Mary Jane seems to be very nervous and runs away when I talk to her. Is something the matter?"

You grimace. "She's not great with people."

She nods in understanding before looking at you more seriously. "Did you want to do some work today, or are you busy?"

You shake your head. "No, I'm free- I really need to finish up that outfit, too. What did you have planned?"

She smiles. "Oh, about the same." Before she grabs you by the arm and drags you off. It isn't long before you're at your house, Felicia with you. Vaguely, you sense Mary Jane approach, as you see her approach her house in your peripheral vision. The door doesn't seem to be locked, so it seems like Aunt May's home.

You look at Felicia. "My Aunt's home, so I'll let you talk if she asks how we know each other, alright?"

She nods as you open the door. "I'm home!"

Your aunt looks up from the television and smiles. "Ah, Peter, and you brought a guest! Who are you, miss?"

Felicia gives her a friendly smile and approaches your Aunt. "I'm Felicia Hardy, Peter tutored my brother while I was at an all-girls school up-state. However, my brother's health has been worsening, causing my parents to bring me back here to stay with my father while Felix goes with my mother to a hospital better suited for treating him. However, before he left, I had come back."

She smiles back at you warmly. "Peter and I managed to become fast friends and now that I'm starting at Midtown today, he said he'd help me get up to speed with classes- the lesson placement at my school was a little behind."

You aunt gives Felicia a smile before turning to you. "How nice of you, Peter."

You embarrassedly rub the back of your head as you lead Felicia to the basement. "There's a lot of workspace down here, so we'll be down here. Knock if you need me, alright?"

Your aunt waves you off as you head downstairs, locking the door behind you. You pull out the materials as Felicia looks thoughtful.

"Do you want to work on the costumes, Peter, or should I?"

You think about it. The costumes would have a lot of work, so…

"Why don't we work on them together?"

Felicia blinks before nodding. "Alright, I haven't done it before, but it'll be an interesting experience. So, I'll need you measurements."

She pulls a measuring tape out of her bag. "Why did you have that on you, Felicia?"

Felicia only smiles. "Why, to better ogle you, Peter. Seriously, now, I'll need to get your measurements, so strip down to your skivvies. Or…"

Felicia leans in, her face absolutely diabolical. "Will I have to do it myself?"

You swallow before following her instructions, stripping down to your boxer-briefs as she slowly and carefully measures you. You shiver and use your iron will to suppress any untoward thoughts. This is business after all…

When she finally wraps up her measuring tape she looks you over before letting out a sigh. "And here I thought I'd get more of a reaction."

You stare at Felicia deadpan, keeping your voice quiet as you quickly dress. "My Aunt is upstairs, I'd rather not involve myself in some misunderstanding like that out of some anime."

Felicia pouts before looking over the material, examining it.

"So, how do you want to use this material? Do you want it to go under your existing costume, or do you want a new costume made out of it? It -is- a rather dense material and will be warm to wear and it'll be hot to wear- luckily it's almost Halloween. Shame about the color, too. Rather tacky, but themes the breaks, I guess."

"Let's make a new suit, one that's a bit easier to move in. I'll be relying on your help, Felicia."

She nods before looking over the materials, jotting down some notes. Luckily, you manage to notice she's miswritten something and point it out. Felicia lets out a sigh of relief. "I'm glad you caught that, Peter. If I'd messed up, that would have really screwed me over later on."

You nod as the two of you get to work. Between the two of you, you've managed to get the outfits done. Both, unfortunately, are rather ugly looking- vibrant yellow quilted material. Yours has had the spider symbol stitched on, so if you look at it at a certain way, it sort of seems like it's covered in webbing.

Hmm, webbing patterns on a costume, now that's an idea…

Still, the costume has been finished as Felicia stretches, looking unhappy. To your surprise, it only took you two about three hours between your teamwork.

"I know that it'll do its job, but I wish it looked less… ugly."

Felicia seems to be staring at her outfit with a bit of distaste. It's a full-body suit like yours, but without the spider symbols.

"Well, it could have been worse, you know."

She stretches again and sighs. "Yeah, that's true. So, what do you want to do?"

You stare down at the costume in your hands. You remember your conversation earlier today, the broadcast, and that day at school. This has to come to an end. You fists clench the fabric tightly.

"I think it's about time to call out the Hobgoblin."

Felicia stares at you sadly before nodding. "I'll set up something for later tonight so your aunt and uncle can be asleep."

She gets up and pulls you into a hug. "I know he has to be stopped, but Peter, don't become a killer like him, alright?"

She lets go and pulls away, putting away her uniform. "I'll take care of things, so I'll get going, alright. I'll give you a call when it's time."

She heads out, closing the basement door behind her. You spend a few minutes putting things away before you go upstairs. Aunt May's in the kitchen, brewing some tea- you see something's in the oven.

"Ah, Peter, would you mind setting the table? Ben will be home soon and dinner's almost ready. I had made some for your friend but it seems she had to go home?"

You nod. "She's rather busy. After we finished helping her get caught up she looked at the clock and realized she had to go."

While you set the table, the phone rings, picking it up your aunt talks for a few minutes before hanging up. She glances over at you. "Seems like Anna's going to have to work late tonight at the hospital, Peter. Mind going and getting Mary Jane- Anna's worried about her eating habits.

"And this isn't any ulterior motives, I just can't leave dinner unattended. Would you please do this for me?"

You give her a nod. "Sure, no problem."

She hands you a key, looking a little bit worried. "The doors locked, so if nobody answers, let yourself in, alright?"

You nod and head over to the house and ring the doorbell, then knock, after about five minutes you let yourself in. Closing the door behind you, you look around. The house is dark, but your spider sense slightly buzzes. She's in here, alright.

You head up the stair and knock on her door.

One, twice, three times. No answer, but she's definitely on the other side. You can feel it.

You knock again before calling out.

"I know you're in there, Mary Jane. My 'Red Warrior needs food badly' sense is tingling"

You wait another minute before sighing. "I'm opening the door!"

You open the door to her room. It's dark in here, the curtains are shut and the lights are off- the only thing is the illumination of the screen. You step closer and begin to hear music from Mary Jane's direction, along with the sound of keys typing as your spider sense buzzes in your head from her presence.

She seems to be on some sort of message board, but you aren't familiar with it. She also seems oblivious to your presence.

You turn on the light switch. You see her jump a little before turning back in your direction, her eyes widening in panic as she takes off the headphones.

"…wha…"

"Your aunt is going to be late, so she called us to have you eat with us at Casa de Parker. I tried to get your attention, but you were kinda deaf to the world."

Her face flushes as she looks around her room. There's all sorts of videogames, model kits and statues there as she gets up and drags you out of the room, refusing to look at you. She lets go when you're face enough away from her room by pulling away with a horrified gasp.

She pauses to grab something from the kitchen and then puts on sandals and follows you to your house, locking the door behind her.

Dinner proves to be pretty quiet but awkward as Mary Jane just sort of mumbles when anyone tries to talk with her. You do notice, however, that she seems to take some sort of pill before the meal with a drink of water, though your Aunt notices, she doesn't seem to comment.

After she finishes, she mumbles a thanks and doesn't run but heads back next door in a bit of a hurry. It's about seven now, you should have some time that you end up making sure that all of your stuff is ready. You also, after making sure the door is locked, try on your new costume.

When you put on the mark, all sound is incredibly muffled-to the point the only thing you could hear was your own breathing- none of your steps could be heard. Seems like you're not going to be able to hear anything with this on- not without figuring out a way to get around it. Also- even this version is incredibly warm- the material doesn't breathe well.

By the time you're doing making sure your gear is tuned up and that your webshooters and webbing work correctly, correcting a small calibration error in your left webshooter, and other miscellaneous tasks, you find that it's about nine.

You pack up your costume and webshooters in your bag before heading upstairs, coughing some to make your throat sound rougher. You pass by your Aunt May.

"I don't feel great, I'm going to bed, night Aunt May."

She looks at you before nodding. "Get a good night's sleep, dear. If you aren't feeling well in the morning, just let me know, alright?"

You give her a nod before you head upstairs and into your room, locking the door. You turn off your light and sit there in the darkness waiting until your phone makes a noise. Checking it, you see that it's a text from Felicia.

There's an address and a time- two hours from now and it's far enough away that you can sneak out with plenty of time.

Tonight, the Hobgoblin won't have the last laugh.

End
To Be continued

Review