(A/N: I do not own Spiderman. That right belongs to Sony).
The Vault to the Midtown Bank was busted open by a large sand-like formation of a mallet and inside went Flint Marko, also known as Sandman.
The alarms were blaring and workers and customers were scattering to get out. It was the first Sandman sighting in a while and people around were not exactly thrilled about a shapeshifting thief coming back into their daily lives as citizens of New York.
Inside the vault, Marko could see a shipment of $100 million in stacks of hundreds laid out across the enclosed space. It was a shipment granted by the Treasury Department to assist the bank in ensuring that it can hold the money it held for their customers. Since it was a big payoff, it had been closed off to most of the public but…Marko had his own way of knowing these kinds of things.
"Hello, beauties…come to papa!" Marko said as several 'sand hands' came out from his chest and started grabbing as many stacks as they could and engulfed him into his silicon granule body.
"Hey Sandy, makin' a withdrawal there? Most people go to the front desk" A familiar voice quipped.
Marko groaned and turned around. He could see Spiderman crawling on the walls of the vault wall.
"Oh great, it's you" Marko said, rolling his eyes.
"Yeah. It's me. The guy who thought you turned over a new leaf months ago at the oil tanker. Here you are, months later, getting back into a life I thought you left" Spiderman said, dropping to the floor, folding his arms and giving a massively disapproving look that Marko could see through the mask.
Marko just sighed. "Look, kid, I'm not doing this for me. I don't really care about a 'big score' anymore…but there is one thing I care about and she's the very reason I'm doing this. Cut me a break"
"I don't know who you're doing this for but this isn't the way to go about it. I almost worked for Tombstone one time to help someone close to me but I realized that not all the money was worth working for someone like him and neither was looking the other way to any crime he was committing" Spiderman said, practically monologuing to him.
"Spare me the speech, 'hero'. I'm not interested in it. I promise you this, though: Let me do this one thing and I'm outta your hair for good. Come on. You actually think this bank has it out for people like you and me?" Sandman tried to reason.
"...I can't do that, Marko. Listen, I'm not the biggest fan of big banks like these operate either but it's still not my place to steal something that isn't mine" Spiderman proclaimed.
"Always the boy scout. Well, I tried to reason with ya but ya leave me no choice. Believe it or not, I'm actually not gonna enjoy this" Sandman said. He then formed a giant sand hand and aimed it at the spider themed hero.
Before he could throw the punch, a voice called out "Yeah, I'm gonna have to ask you to lay off the boyfriend there, big guy"
Suddenly, Black Cat came from the ceiling and landed on Marko's 'body'. The force caused him to disintegrate into tiny sand pieces. Cat then flipped and landed right next to Spiderman.
Sandman quickly reformed and his eyes moved back and forth from Spiderman and Black Cat.
"So you two are a thing now, huh? I've always heard rumors and saw in the papers that you've been working together nowadays but really never thought it would actually be true. Always took you for a sort of freelance kind of gal there, Cat" Marko said with a raised eyebrow.
"There are times where a girl's gotta settle down" Cat shrugged while maintaining a fighting position.
"I guess so. Look, I'm gonna be straight with the both of ya'. I got a sick daughter and I need this money for her for an operation she needs. Cut me a break, will ya?" Marko asked, sounding exasperated at this point.
"It's not the right way, Marko. Look…if you need money…maybe I can reach out to that kid, Peter Parker, the guy that always takes pictures of me. I heard he's come into a lot of money lately. He…kinda owes me for all the help I've given him with his photography career so-" Spiderman tried to reason but was cut off.
"Save it, kid. I'm not putting my little girl's fate into some kid's hand. I need to do this and if it means having to go through you two, then so be it" Sandman said with a determined yet kind of grim face like he really didn't want to do this.
Spiderman and Black Cat sensed a fight so they got into their fighting stance. They proceeded to go into a standoff, waiting for the other to do the first move.
After a few moments, Marko gave into the tension and delved the first punch, or punches in this case. He formed two giant fists and threw it right at the two. Both Spiderman and Black Cat avoided the punches easily.
Spiderman then shot a web towards the back of the room and used the web to pull himself towards the wall. He stuck onto the wall and quickly jumped off to kick Sandman in his back.
The Spider hero succeeded as Sandman disintegrated into little bits of sand as Spiderman landed on the ground in front of him. However, it didn't last long as he quickly reformed to his usual self.
Sandman was always one of Spiderman's more difficult foes because he had very few weaknesses apart from cement or water, neither of which were really accessible at the moment and brute attacks didn't do much good.
"When are you ever going to learn, kid? I woulda' thought our last showdown woulda' showed ya' I'm no pushover like I was as Flint Marko" Sandman said, walking towards him like he wasn't even a threat.
"Well let's see how you fare against claws" Black Cat had said from above.
She had been dangling on the ceiling from her claw grappling hook but again jumped down but this time landed on Marko himself. She clawed at his face which caused him to let out a yell as he momentarily lost his focus. Cat used this opportunity to jump off of him by diving her legs squarely into his chest. The force threw him back as he disintegrated again while Cat landed near her boyfriend's side.
Sandman again reformed and glared at the two. After a raged yell, he ran at the two and again formed two fists. He rammed it at the two again but this time, these came at them so fast, they didn't even have time to react. They were thrown outside the vault and into the middle of the bank. Thankfully all the citizens had been evacuated so it was just them inside at the moment.
"Best we move the party out here. Don't want to ruin any of my winnins' in there?" Marko said, gesturing to the Vault behind him.
"How did you even hear about this shipment from the US Treasury to the Midtown Bank? It was kept a secret from the general public" Black Cat asked with a raised eyebrow.
"...How did YOU know exactly?" Spiderman asked his girlfriend with a raised eyebrow.
The white-haired girl simply shrugged. "I told you. I've got connections"
"...Sooner or later, I'd like to hear about all these 'connections' you apparently have" Spiderman said, letting it go for the moment.
"Well I got connections of my own, squirt. Connections that know about this kinda stuff. Now enough of the small talk. It's go time!" Sandman as he formed two giant and solid blocks with his hands.
Sandman tried to slam it against the two but they quickly dodged it. Black Cat jumped towards Marko's arms and easily sliced through them with her long leg but it was to no effect as it quickly reformed with his body.
"Sheesh, I knew he wasn't going to be easy but I'm running low on ideas here. Nothing hurts him" Black Cat thought as she watched him reform.
Sandman took this opportunity to quickly form another hammer like shape from one of his hands and quickly swiped at Black Cat again. In her ponderings, Marko's hand knocked against her, sending her flying towards a wall. She fell to the ground and laid there for a bit, taking in the pain.
"Hey! Ease up on her, Marko! It's me you really want!" Spiderman said as he used his webbing to fling a loan officer's desk towards Marko. Again, it had no effect as Marko's body just dispersed and put itself back together. The Sandman turned and glared at Spiderman.
"The thing I want is to help my daughter and if it means going through the pair of you to get it, so be it! I need money not for myself and this is the only way I can get it yet you're so dead set on helpin' these bank scumbags out instead of a poor defenseless little girl. Guess I know where your priorities are. Now enough of this!" Sandman said.
Marko then formed a giant hand and shot it towards Spiderman. The hand Sandman sent towards him was so quick, Spiderman didn't have time to react as it engulfed his entire body. Marko then brought him towards his face.
"Now listen here, Spidey. I ain't got no grudge against you no more but I need to do this and if that means I have to go through you and the entire goddamn NYPD, I don't give a shit. I'm doing this and you of all people and especially not your little girlfriend are going to get in my way.
Sandman then tightened his grip on Spiderman until the spider hero couldn't breathe. Black Cat wanted to help but she wasn't superhuman like her boyfriend was and couldn't handle the blows he could so she was still recovering.
Soon, Spiderman passed out from a lack of air. When Sandman felt him limp, he gently placed him on the ground.
"Now I'm going to do what I'm going to do and I'll be gone. Simple as that" Sandman said and turned back to the vault. As he walked towards the vault, a voice cried out.
"Hey, jerk! You don't get to toss my boyfriend around like that!" A female voice called out.
Not recognizing the voice, Sandman turned around with a raised eyebrow. What he saw was an interesting sight.
It was a Hispanic girl dressed in a yellow spandex suit with a red face mask and red gloves. Small streaks of flame were going through her hair so that it appeared as a reddish color.
"Who the hell are you?" Sandman asked.
"The name's Firestar and Spidey here happens to be my guy and I don't appreciate you tossing him around like that" Firestar said, her hands on her hip and giving a glare at Marko.
The man in question gave a confused look. "He's your boyfriend? I thought he and Cat were…"
"It's a delicate situation but…we're…both kinda with him" Firestar said, sheepishly, rubbing her forearm.
Sandman's eyes widened. "Woah…Spidey's a ladies man. Who knew?"
"Seems so…anyway, I'm afraid I can't let you do what you're doing there, big guy. I'm gonna have to ask you to come quietly" Firestar declared, suddenly getting serious and getting a determined look on her face.
Sandman let out a laugh. "Oh yeah. I'm real scared of you, little girl. Black Cat's a pro and even she can't do anything to me. What can you do, exactly?"
Firestar let out a little smirk.
"Oh, I don't know. How about…this?" Firestar asked. She then pointed her arms toward him and and let out a shot of fire from her arm.
"Woah!" Sandman said as he managed to dodge it with his sand abilities. "Wha…What the hell's that?"
"Long story. Anyway, I'm no science expert but I'm pretty sure I know fire and sand aren't exactly a great mix so…you gonna come quietly?" Liz asked, getting into a fighting stance which looked kinda silly from Sandman's perspective.
"I don't care if you got powers to bring this whole bank down on top of us. I ain't leavin' without that money" Marko said, not backing down.
"Well…if that's the way you want it" Firestar said, not changing her position.
Sandman then formed a hammer with his hand and tried to ram it down on top of her but Firestar quickly rolled out of the way. Thank god cheerleading practice and going to the gym 3 times a week gave her a bit more skills than saying "Go team!" all the time.
Firestar shot a flame at Marko but he made a shield-like object blocking his face and body from the flame. However, as Firestar said, fire and sand weren't exactly a match that went well in Marko's case. He let out a yell as his hand went back into its original shape and he shook it to ease the pain.
"I don't want to do this but you're not giving me much choice. Just stop this and don't make this any harder on yourself" Firestar said, her voicing getting a bit softer.
"Oh hell no. I finally get a shot to get the score I deserve and for my little girl no less while I take down the Spider and Black Cat, no less and it goes all up in smoke because some little girl who can shoot fire from her hands comes out of nowhere? Hell no!" Sandman said, getting angry.
Marko then dissolved his body and quickly moved his current form of a pile of sand behind Firestar's body. She was so surprised and confused that she didn't notice. She needed to get used to this superhero stuff…
Marko quickly reformed and grabbed her arms from behind. He made sure that her hands couldn't reach him.
"Alright, little girl. I ain't gonna hurt ya. Just gonna make sure you can't mess with me while I do my work. You and Cat will be snuggling with your boy toy again soon" Sandman said as he got ready to make her pass out as he did to Spiderman.
Firestar, thinking of something to do, looked up and saw something that could greatly help and smirked.
"Oh no. You aren't getting away that easily, Sandy. I've got another trick up my sleeve" Firestar said. Her body then started emitting what looked to be some sort of microwave radiation and a field surrounded her.
"OW! DAMN IT!" Marko said as he quickly detached himself from Firestar.
Firestar then aimed her hands toward the ceiling and shot a flame up towards the ceiling.
Marko looked up, curious as to what she was shooting at. His eyes widened as he realized what she was aiming for: Sprinklers.
The flames quickly came into contact with the sprinklers, setting it off. Water quickly erupted all around the bank.
"No, no, no!" Marko shouted as water began to hit his body. His body then began to quickly dissolve into a sand much as water fell on him until his body was then a pile of mush.
Firestar let out a big sigh and then a smirk as she looked at her handy work. She'd say her first shot at being a superhero was a success despite it being rather messy…and ruining her hair in the process which had turned brown again as it collided with the flame streaks that were running through it.
Spiderman and Black Cat came to as they felt themselves being covered with water. They slowly got up from their positions and stretched as the water came down hard on them.
They turned their attention towards the new superheroine in front of them. Spiderman raised an eyebrow and walked towards her.
"Uh…hello…I…I don't believe we met" Spiderman said as he approached her.
"Oh, I wouldn't exactly say that…" Firestar thought, nervously.
Black Cat looked towards her with a raised eyebrow and went into deep thought.
"That hair….and those eyes, I think they're brown…oh no. It can't be…Pete's sure gonna have a hernia when he finds out" Cat said in her mind as she smirked and shook her head.
"Uh…hi…the name's Firestar. I…I'm a superhero. Like you" Firestar said with a nervous chuckle.
"Oh. Cool. I hadn't heard of you. You new?" Spiderman asked.
"Relatively, yeah" Firestar said, her nervous tone unchanged.
"Well…thanks a lot. So Firestar, huh? Cool. What are your powers exactly?" Spiderman asked.
"Oh well uh…I have…fire powers" Firestar said and decided to give a little demonstration. She lifted up her arm and a flame emitted from her hand.
"Oh, wow! That's such a coincidence. My girlfriend has the same sort of power" Spiderman said, surprised and fascinated.
Black Cat was hollering in laughter in her mind as she smirked in the background. How was her boyfriend this oblivious?
At this point, Firestar couldn't really figure out how he didn't know at this point either so she decided to have some fun with this.
"You don't say….maybe it sounds like she could be a hero too" Firestar said, starting to smirk and putting her hands on her hips.
"Oh definitely not! At least not now anyway. I'm glad I actually managed to talk her out of coming down tonight. God knows she wouldn't have been able to friggin' Sandman of all the villains" Spiderman said in a kind of chastising way.
"Uh-huh…right. What's her name?" Firestar asked, her blood pressure rising a bit.
"Oh, sorry. Can't tell you that, lady. Can't mess up the whole identity thing, you know and giving her name would sort of give it away" Spiderman said, apologizing.
"Would her name happen to be…Liz by any chance? Liz Allan of Midtown High?" Firestar asked with a growing smirk.
Spiderman's eyes nearly popped out from behind his mask. He then began to stutter.
"I…wha…I…how…how could…oh…..wait" Spiderman said, his stuttering stopping as he suddenly began to realize what was happening here: Firestar was Liz…in retrospect, given all the signs and physical characteristics, he probably should have figured that out sooner.
Black Cat couldn't help herself anymore. She slapped her knee and began burst out laughing.
"Sorry, sorry. I wanted to say something sooner but…oh who the hell am I kidding? I wasn't going to say a word. I wanted to see how far you would take this. How could you have not recognized her? She has the same hair and eyes! I recognized her from here!" She said, still laughing loudly.
Spiderman turned to give her a slight glare and say "Yeah. Thanks a lot…" before turning his head back towards the girl in yellow spandex
"Yup. It's me. Oh and by the way-" Firestar said before slapping him.
"Ow!" Spiderman said, rubbing his cheek.
"That's for treating me like a baby. As you can clearly see, I can handle myself well. Sure, I'm not perfect and I'll need more practice for bigger baddies but I can do this and you would have fallen flat on your face if it wasn't for me" Firestar said with a glare and putting her hands on her hips again.
"Ok…I'm sorry…and you're right. You handled Marko better than I could've tonight so…why don't we take this one step at a time. These kinds of tricks may work on him or maybe even Electro but it won't work against someone more dangerous like Doc Ock or Rhino" Spiderman suggested.
"That's fair. That's all I wanted…now come here" Firestar said before grabbing Spiderman's arm and pulling him towards her. She partially undid his mask and moved his lips towards hers until they met in a tender kiss.
Black Cat watched and just rolled her eyes. She just folded her arms and looked at them until she heard footsteps through puddles. The 'former' thief then turned her head and saw George Stacy, Jean DeWolff and Stan Carter come in with guns in their hands.
"Oof. Time for me to make my escape" Cat said and got out her grappling hook. She still wasn't exactly on good terms with the police, especially after the whole symbiote deal. She shot it towards the ceiling and used it to move her body upwards, barely escaping their line of sight before they even noticed her.
George ran towards the center of the bank and saw Spiderman above a pile of mush he presumed to be Sandman.
"Spiderman, what-oh!" George said as he noticed him and Firestar still kissing.
The voices caused them to part and Spiderman looked awkwardly at the three while Firestar looked away embarrassed.
"Wow…nice moves there, Spidey!" Carter said with a smirk.
"Can it, Carter!" DeWolff said, elbowing him.
"Uh…Spiderman…is this Sandman?" George asked, gesturing to Sandman.
"Uh….yeah. Yeah it is" Spiderman said, nodding.
"Good. Carter, DeWolff, get a special containment unit we can use for him. Fast. These sprinklers won't go on forever!" George ordered.
"Yes sir, Captain!" DeWolff said and then she and Carter turned and moved outside to find something that could hold Sandman.
George turned towards Spiderman again. "Thanks again, Spiderman. God knows what would've happened if you hadn't showed up"
"Uh…I appreciate the praise, Captain but…it was really this girl right here that did all the heavy work. Sandman would've gotten away without her" Spiderman said, gesturing to Firestar.
George then turned to Firestar who was blushing and rubbing her forearm.
"I…I guess that's true" Firestar chuckled nervously.
"Well thank you, uh…" George stammered before Firestar interrupted.
"Firestar. My name is Firestar" She replied.
"Firestar?" Spiderman thought with a raised eyebrow. He guessed it was a more original name than Spiderman….
"Well…Firestar, this city owes you a debt as well. Thank you both. Anyway, I suggest the two of you head out. We can take it from here. You might want to head home soon…some legal guardians can be very strict about curfews from what I've heard" George said with a smirk before turning and walking away.
Firestar raised an eyebrow and turned towards her boyfriend. "Uh…does he…?"
"I never asked….though I sometimes wonder" Spiderman said, raising an eyebrow towards the police captain walking away from them.
"So…I guess we better get back to Cat's apartment. Looks like she already made her way there" Firestar, noticing she was gone.
"Yeah, I guess so. Want a ride?" Spiderman offered, offering his arm.
"Oh, yeah! Yeah! Definitely!" Firestar said, pecking his cheek and taking his arm.
"Great! Let's get going. Oh! Wait! One more thing" Spiderman said. He turned towards the wall where his photographing camera was stationed and used his webbings to pull it towards him. Thank god he was able to buy a new waterproof camera. He caught it and pocketed it in a secret pocket inside the bottom half of his suit.
Spiderman and Firestar left the building. With Firestar hooking around his neck, Spiderman webbed off into the night with his girlfriend wrapped around him.
The teenage superhero couldn't help but think about the pictures he had gotten. Three heroes were running around in the city. Wasn't Jolly Jameson gonna be so happy about this new revelation?