Chapter 1-3
Empire State University
Night had finally crept up on the quartet and all the college students were now settling in, ready to spend their first night on campus. When David and Eddie finished setting their room up, they headed into the common area, where they set up an empty table and pulled out a deck of cards and poker chips.
"Up for a game of No Limit, Texas Hold 'Em?" David asked.
Eddie pulled his wallet out. "What's the buy-in?"
"One hundred dollars. But we're only playing for fun. Among other things."
Eddie narrowed his eyes at him. "What other things are we playing for?"
"Practice, experience."
Eddie's eyes widened. "Well, I don't know about that, V, he has some experience." Eddie shook his head. "Different kinds of experience, V."
David chuckled. "You must love having an extra voice in your head talking to you."
Eddie looked at him. "It's... taxing and exhausting but aside from that, good to always have someone keep me company." He groans. "I just wish he wouldn't talk so much while I'm sitting on the toilet, taking a shit." Eddie shook his head and his face turned red. "Shut up, V."
Man, I wish I knew what Venom was saying to Eddie; it would make life easier for me.
David clicked his tongue. "You better pipe down or people might think you're crazy." Luckily, they were in the far back of the common area so they had a little bit of privacy. He looked over at the doorway. When he saw Felicia and Cindy walking in, he called them over. "Up for a poker game?"
"What's the buy-in?" Felicia asked.
"We're just playing for fun but… one hundred dollars."
"I'm in, even though that sounds like absolutely nothing to me."
Cindy gathered the courage to speak up. "I'll join too."
"Good," Eddie began, "now that all four of us are-" Eddie paused. "Sorry, five of us are here, we can play." He looked ahead. "Look through my memories, V, and then you'll see how to play this game."
When everyone pitched in one hundred dollars, they were dealt the appropriate amount of chips with each chip being worth five dollars.
David sat to the right of Eddie as he shuffled the cards and watched as Felicia and Cindy put in their blind bets.
Felicia is the small blind with five dollars and Cindy is the big blind with ten dollars.
Eddie dealt them the cards.
David looked at his cards. The king and queen of clubs were his hole cards.
Let's see if these royal clubs will be generous to me.
Everyone looked at him.
There is a very good reason I'm sitting to the right of Eddie instead of the left. Since I'm to the right of the dealer, Felicia and Cindy will have no choice but to put in money, therefore, already having a higher percent chance of losing. Me, I can fold and I wouldn't lose any money. But that's not why I decided to play this game with them.
David puts in two chips. Eddie follows, then Felicia, who put in one, and finally, Cindy, who checked.
Eddie dealt the river.
The Ace of Hearts, Jack of Diamonds, and 2 of Diamonds.
Ahh, lady fortune decided to be merciful with me today. In any other game, had all the suits matched, I could go for a Royal Flush and win. But I'm more interested in what everyone else does.
David's eyes drift off to Felicia's chest, which had a bit of cleavage exposed.
Maybe I can get them to play Strip Poker with me when they're done.
Felicia sighs and drops her cards. "Fold."
David smiles. "Not feeling risque today, Felicia?"
"Nope, this cat is a little tired right now." She gets up. "I'm going to go get some snacks."
"Don't skimp out on the milk." David laughs.
After everyone checked, the turn had been dealt with.
Hello, Ten of Diamonds. I got a straight.
He coldly observes Cindy. Cindy rubs her fingertips together before she throws in two more chips.
"I'll call you on that."
Eddie raised. "Two chips."
Cindy immediately folded.
David called Eddie.
The River: Eight of Clubs.
David raised, making Eddie call. They laid down their cards, Eddie revealing the Ace of Clubs and 9 of Diamonds.
David collected his money.
"No hard feelings," Eddie told, "I can go one day without lunch money." He scowled. "Venom's upset though."
David gave the chips back. "It was only $90 out of $400 in the pot." He sat back down. "Anyway, what I was trying to show you guys was that we all have special 'skills' that can give us an advantage in any poker game. We were all playing it safe and tame; let's use our 'skills' to give us an advantage."
"What's the point of this?" Cindy demanded.
"You'll see, Cindy, you'll see."
And so, they restarted the game with Eddie shuffling the cards and passing them out. In this round of the game, Eddie was looking anxiously at his cards, his eyes twitching as he comprehended his cards. When the river was laid down, he made a silent gesture for Venom to make his move.
There were two Jacks in the community cards so Venom used a piece of himself to stick onto Eddie's cards and turn his 3 of Diamonds and 2 of Clubs into a pair of Jacks. He laid his cards down and revealed four of a kind, therefore, winning about fifty dollars.
Not a bad way to cheat. The only problem is that if he were to change his cards the same way after every game, then people will get suspicious. What if I had a pair of Jacks instead of him? He would've been called out and disqualified.
When Felicia dealt the cards, David paid extra attention to how she shuffled them. There were no signs of cheating but she saw her wink at all three of them.
David looked at his cards. 9 of Clubs and 8 of Spades. He folded while he was still ahead.
"No," Eddie whispered to himself after looking at the community cards. "I'm not going to go all in." His hand shout out and half of his poker chips were shoved forward. "Fine."
Felicia had a Royal Flush and won.
When Cindy was dealt the cards, she was using the speed in her fingers to shuffle the cards at lightning speed, putting all other cardistry performed to shame.
David narrowed his eyes.
Cindy performed the anaconda dribble as before she riffle shuffles multiple times.
I see what you did there, Cindy. When you did the Anaconda dribble, the back of the cards was facing us and the front was facing you. You used your enhanced perception and speed to manipulate the cards so that when, when you flicked them at us, you would flick from the top and ensure that you dealt yourself good cards. Base dealing.
David looked at Felicia.
I saw you wink at her. Whenever you wink at someone, you curse them with bad luck, yet when Cindy did her dribbling, she was able to do it successfully.
Cindy won with a straight flush, 6 of Spades to 10 of Spades.
David was then dealt the cards. There weren't any tricks to the way he dealt his cards, just shuffling the cards multiple times, doing his favorite, the bridge, before dealing out the cards.
However, his method of winning was that he used his enhanced senses to his advantage.
When that spider bit me a long time ago, it gave me enhanced senses. Hearing, touching, smelling, tasting, hell, even seeing. I have much sharper eyesight than the average human, which means I see a lot more details more clearly.
He looked ahead at Felicia across from him. Narrowing his eyes, he saw her hand in the reflection of her eyes.
He did the same with Eddie and Cindy. After he saw and memorized each person's hand, he used his next two senses to his advantage: hearing and smelling.
The heart beats fast when one stresses out and sweat secretes from their skin. Those who were bluffing or who were unsure had a combination of both.
Cindy and Felicia folded just before the river was dealt and Eddie was looking at David, eyes wide.
"I don't think so," Eddie said to Venom, "let's just…"
David went all in.
Eddie looked at the chips on him. "I fold."
David laughs. "I had jack shit!" He tosses down a 7 of Hearts and 3 of Clubs. "I bluffed you."
As David collected his money, he turned his attention to the screen, which one of the students turned on, showing news coverage of a recent Spider-Man incident.
"It is truly disturbing," the anchor said, "someone is putting on a Spider-Man costume and bringing about their own justice to the streets."
The co-anchor spoke up and said, "Just today, three bodies with ties to several mob groups were found dead in an alleyway with a man dressed in a Spider-Man costume seen walking out of the alley. Many believed this was the real Spider-Man at first before they noticed how drastically different the look of the costume and stature of the subject was. Additionally, the man was seen escaping in a taxi, not web-swinging out of dodge. The victims were also reported to have multiple stab wounds and gunshot wounds; contradictory to Spider-Man typical MO."
"So what does this say, Tommy," the anchor asked, "the three bodies were identified as mobsters and this imposter assaulted and murdered them."
"Well, Jennifer, I think this is just bad. Honestly, I understand why people see Spider-Man as a hero but let's not forget the objective fact that he kills people. He's not stringing criminals up and leaving them for the police; he's killing them in brutal ways."
"But Spider-Man only does that to criminals during active crimes. The police and dozens of eyewitnesses from over the years confirm that if a criminal is committing a non-violent crime, like burglary or bicycle theft, then Spider-Man does not kill them."
"Yes, and these mobsters weren't committing any active violent crimes in the area. It's because people misread Spider-Man's intentions that they are committing these crimes. I can already see this being a domino effect. Firstly, someone is going to wear a Spider-Man suit and start taking the law into their own hands in this city, then soon enough, other people are also going to be taking up the mantle, and then it's going to spread across the entire nation.
"This is domestic terrorism, Jennifer."
Jennifer nodded. "I agree with you, Tommy, but what is there to do?"
"Well, if it goes on like this, the FBI might get involved again but I don't think there is much they could do. They couldn't do jack (bleep) when Detective Octavius was in town and looked at what happened to him."
"Do you think Spider-Man would approve of this, Tommy?"
"I don't know. I don't know what goes on inside his head, Jennifer. All we see of Spider-Man is that he kills violently active criminals, strings up the ones who aren't violent and saves innocent people from danger. Aside from saving people from danger and not going after innocent people, there is not a lot to tell us about him. And let's not forget, Spider-Man has assaulted several officers in the past."
"But he's never killed an officer before."
"Well, he killed FBI agent Otto Octavius but this was after he became a supervillain. So, no, the only people Spider-Man has killed are guilty people. But that still makes Spider-Man guilty himself. And if Spider-Man were to approve of something like this… imposters copying him, then damn him to hell."
David looked away as the news report ended and the three pair of eyes belonging to his friends landed on him.
He sighs. "I don't think Spider-Man would approve of this." He looked at Eddie. "I'm sure our 'man in black' wouldn't approve of it, either."
Eddie looks up, almost as if he's staring off into space. "V says he had nothing to do with this."
"I suspected as much."
Eddie scowled. "Be grateful, V, they believe you."
After they finish their game of poker, with everyone declaring a mutual draw, they stand up and begin walking back to their dorms.
Before they make it back to their rooms, they make a quick stop in David and Eddie's room and lock themselves in.
"I found a way for us to make money," David told the three companions. "And it involves poker… and mobsters."
"Ohh," Felicia purred, "do tell."
"Poker is a big thing in New York, especially in the underworld. Mobsters love having themselves a good high-stakes game of Poker and they have a policy: no beating the living shit out of those who win."
"What makes you say that?" Cindy asked.
"It makes sense," Felicia deduced, "in a game of poker, if you win the big pot and manage to clean out your opponents and they beat you up and take your money back, then a business like that would fall apart in an instant. After all, why would you play a high-stakes poker game if you know you can only lose? It's not good for business."
David nods. "Right, and since the underground poker business is still on, it is possible to clean out a poker table. But we have to be smart about it. Our superpowers give us a huge advantage over our enemies. But I've noticed some flaws in the way you're using your powers."
He turned to Eddie. "Eddie, you use Venom to change your cards. The big problem with this is what if another opponent has the same cards as you? They'll be suspicious so you gotta figure out a way to use Venom to cheat. Also, your rigid shoulders is a huge tell on your part." He looked at Felicia. "Cat, I can tell that you were base-dealing. And that you were winking, which will attract attention." He turns to Cindy. "And as for you, you were too flashy with the way you dribbled the cards and shuffled them. Also, you rub your fingertips together."
"And what about you?" Felicia purred. "What's your cheat and tell?"
"I used my enhanced perceptions to see the cards in the reflection of my opponent's eyes."
Eddie laughed. "You always stare at Feliicia's chest."
Felicia smirked. "He does?"
"Yeah, whenever he gets a good hand, Davey here stares at your chest. Clearly, he's imagining himself playing a game of strip poker."
Damn, I left myself open.
"Thank you," David bowed. "With these little criticisms, we can sneak under the radar undetected."
"We're going to play poker with mobsters?" Cindy asked. "Why?"
"It's a good way to earn money." David tilts his head once more. "Haven't you ever wondered why I haven't gone after mobsters? Aside from them not committing any violent crimes, it's better to keep the status quo with mobsters as a way to avoid any gang wars on the streets, which could cause collateral damage. That… and this reason; mob money is always good."
"It's blood money."
"Money is money, Cindy. How do you know the money in your wallet isn't from a mobster? You may have gotten it from an ATM but how do we know a mobster didn't make a deposit and his money went to you when you withdrew?" He approaches her. "Cindy, we need money to survive in this world; it's a cold-blooded fact. You need money to buy food, clothes, a car, gas, and worst of all, rent. If it eases your conscience, then think of it like this: that money used by mobsters is being used to murder, seal, and extortion. Once you win their money, you can use it to pay for your family; to take them out to dinner or just to buy them a gift for Christmas."
"Oh," Cindy utters, "I guess… but…"
"Cindy, I know, as Silk, you want to take down the mob but think of this practically: taking down the mob will lead to a power vacuum that could spiral out of control with innocent people. Keep the mob alive, we minimize collateral damage. And we get to stick it to the mob by stealing their money."
Cindy looks down at the ground. She clicks her tongue before looking up. "I think I can handle something like that."
"Good."
Felicia rubs her temple. "I don't know… stealing money is just so boring. The priceless artifacts I steal from museums are worth stealing. I get a little money from it when I trick the person I stole from into buying their product back." She smiles. "There's nothing worse than being suckered twice." She sighs. "But, there is a bit of a downside. If I steal from those who deserve it, then normally, they don't have enough money to buy it back because chances are, they stole it themselves. And those who can afford it, they'll simply buy another from a third party and not me."
Eddie raised his hand. "Uh, where are we supposed to hide the money? Let's say we win twenty grand or so in a game; where do we hide the money?"
"A storage unit," David answers.
"And then…" Felicia spoke up again, "Gradually… over time… we can put a little bit more and more into our bank accounts. Maybe like one thousand dollars a month. We'll say the four of us started some kind of art website or something and people and paying for our artwork or something."
"And in case of emergencies, we can go to this storage area and grab some money."
"Precisely."
Cindy took a moment to speak up. "David, what are you going to do about those spider vigilantes?"
David looked at her. "Having flashbacks?"
Cindy said nothing. David decided to continue.
"I do not approve of it. Mostly because it disrupts the status quo that keeps things predictable and smooth sailing. I did not become Spider-Man to inspire people to kill so this is a problem I'll have to deal with. But I have to be quick about it though; if I'm too late, it could inspire other people to put on a costume and kill people. And also, I don't need the mob making any criminal activity. So, this spider imposter, I'm going to find him and I'm going to force him to deliver a message for me, a message to the entire world that wearing a mask and taking the law into your own hands is a criminal offense."
Everyone looked at him with a smirk on his face.
"Yep, coming from a man who does exactly what I just described." He looked at his watch. "Well, we should all get some sleep; we have orientation in the morning."
And after that, Felicia and Cindy left the room while Eddie and David stayed behind.
If I set rules that are manageable for everyone on this team, then I should be able to keep everyone in this party in check. I didn't want to be the leader of this group because it was such a hassle, but being a leader means I have authority over everyone.
He lays down on his bed.
I'm not going to be one of those loser superhero characters in all those movies that can barely pay rent; my personal life is just as important as my anti-hero life and in order for me not to put too much stress or strain on myself, I have to make sure both worlds of David Dante's are functioning whole-heartedly.
He settles under the blankets.
I can't risk this son of a bitch imposter going on a killing spree. This is an isolated incident with nothing to indicate that it will repeat... at least for the time being. But, I'm not going to be able to find him. However, the police have more resources at their disposal and chances are, they'll be able to ID the imposter before I will. I must head straight to the police station to talk to Captain Yuri.
The Next Day
The first few classes David was required to attend ended slightly earlier so everyone could get set in. With 90 minutes of free time, he didn't waste a single second. He donned his Spider-Man suit, leaped off the roof of the university, and swung across town.
With fall just around the corner, there was a cool breeze in the air that sent a slight chill down Spidey's spine. He shrugged it off as he got closer and closer to the rooftop he knew Captain Yuri Watanabe would be smoking. Spidey landed on the antenna on the roof and slowly crawled down.
Yuri just finished her second cigarette of the day and flicked the cigarette off the roof.
"Spider-Man," Captain Yuriko Watanabe spoke, "I figured you might show up." She opens her zippo and creates a flame. "Let me guess, you're here because of that spider imposter?"
Spidey nodded. "You're not a detective for no reason. I came here because I found a problem for both of us... as well as a solution."
Yuri snaps her zippo shut. "Ooh, let me take another guess: you're worried about this spider imposter inspiring more people to kill?"
"Well, 'worry' is a strong word but yeah, that is what this is about." He steps forward. "Someone like this spider imposter can't be allowed on the streets. I get that he may have felt inspired by me to carry out justice and kill people but even someone like me knows that anyone going through with killing someone was already a killer in the making. Saying that you'll kill bad guys and actually doing it are completely different things."
"Yeah. At the very least, if this imposter was a good person, he would at least try and save people but no, he killed three mobsters." She shrugs and snaps her zippo open. "Then again, it's only been one day." She creates a flame. "But even so, we can't allow this to escalate, or it'll create more domestic terrorists." She snaps the zippo shut.
"Aww, am I a domestic terrorist?"
"No," she answered shaped, "you are not a domestic terrorist. If you were, then the FBI would take over the Spider-Man case indefinitely; the only reason they got involved in the first place is because of the unprecedented level of fuckery you brought. Then they backed off."
"But if more of these spider imposters show up, then the FBI will get involved to stop them."
"That's why we gotta bring in this imposter, ASAP." She smiles before snapping her zippo open once more. "Fortunately, we managed to get the imposter's fingerprints off of one of the murder weapons he used. He may have been wearing gloves but he forgot to wipe the weapons down clean after he put the gloves on. We should have a match by tomorrow."
"Good. If you incarcerate him, hold him, and then contact me."
"How?"
"I got a police radio scanner on my phone. All you got to say is that you have the imposter in custody. I'll swing by as soon as I'm able to and then, I'm going to come face-to-face with this imposter and tell him what he is doing is wrong. I'm going to use him to send a message, a message to let everyone know that copying me will put them on my shit list."
Yuri snaps her lighter shut. "If this is what it'll take to stop more imposters from taking up the webs, then fine by me." She turns to the edge. "We should have a DNA match by the end of the day, hopefully. Assuming this imposter has a criminal record." When she turns around, Spidey is already gone. "Yep, of course."
When Spidey was swinging back to the university, he paid little attention to the ground below him since his spider-sense wasn't going off. He just looked ahead shot webs at buildings, and swung across, not bothering with any flashy moves, and tried to get back as soon as possible. He already told Eddie that he planned on running an errand during their free period so Venom was attached with Eddie for the time being.
However, when his spider-sense went off, it was because there was a child running across the street and into the path of a truck. But what was very peculiar was the fact this child was being chased by someone wearing a ski mask. The boy looked to be about seven and had tears in his eyes, running for dear life as this man was about to kidnap him.
Spidey swung below and in a split second before the truck hit the boy, he caught the boy in his hands, leaped straight into the air, rotated 180 degrees, shot a web at the attempted kidnapped, and yanked him into the path of the truck, colliding with the grill and getting trampled under the wheels.
Spidey landed on the ground with a soft the and gently placed the boy down. The boy, whose face was red and puffy from crying, looked up at Spider-Man and sobbed into his stomach. Spidey patted him on the head.
"Cutting it a bit close, aren't we, kid." He turned around and observed the kidnapper's body. "He'll make good Halloween decorations."
"Thank you," the boy sobbed, "thank you, Mr. Spider-Man."
"Hey, my father is Mr. Spider-Man, just call me Spidey."
The boy hugged him. "Thank you, Spidey."
A police cruiser, who showed up after witnessing the crime, pulled up to the curb and grabbed the young boy's hand, and gently pulled him away. The young officer looked at Spidey.
"Good job, Spidey."
Spidey nodded to the officer. "All in a good day's work, ma'am."
The officer watched as Spidey swung away before she lead the young boy to safety in the police cruiser.
F.E.A.S.T. Shelter
This was everything that Martin Li could've hoped for as he walked through the front doors of the homeless shelter. This place, this... a sanctuary for the poor and homeless was everything he could've hoped for. A sanctuary where people feel safe, a place where all everyone ever saw was goodness, the goodness of a man's heart.
There was food, shelter, and medicine for everyone living here and counselors to help with those with detrimental mental health.
No, it wasn't that it was a safe haven for the homeless people but because who in the world would suspect that Martin Li, the man who founded the F.E.A.S.T. Shelter Charity, had a certain negativity to him? When one walked into this room and saw the less fortunate, they mostly thanked the man in charge with such positivity in their voice.
Martin Li put his hands on his hips and smiled.
All that money he made over the years had been invested into a positive safe haven for the homeless; he would hate for it to go to waste if some snooping eyes and ears discovered that this fucking place was nothing more than a fucking negative front.
Martin closed his eyes and calmed himself down. No, now was not the time for negative thoughts; when he was wearing a black suit, he was a positive man. No, now was not the time for a white suit today.
He retired to his office, his positively safe haven for himself. A place where he could be alone and vent when he wanted to. Seeing no reason to hold back, turns on the TV to a random news channel, turns up the volume, locks the door, closes the blinds, and turns to his desk, pretending that there was a person sitting in his chair. He pointed an accusing finger at the chair and began.
"You son of a bitch, you fucking piece of shit, you keep ruining my life. Stay, stay the fuck out of my life, stay the fuck away from me. You ugly, disgusting piece of shit. Stay out of my head, leave me, and don't ever come back. You fucking bitch." He approaches the desk and puts his hands on it and leans forward, almost like he was trying to get in someone's face. "What do you want? Why are you here? Haven't I done enough for you already? You evil, evil bastard."
His ears perk up when he hears a familiar name coming from his TV.
"...imposter spider," a news anchor said, "the police are exercising extreme caution against the perpetrator."
Martin turns to the TV and watches a news segment play out. Apparently, there was someone inspired by Spider-Man going around killing people, some of his people. No, that won't do. If someone is killing his people then they had to be punished. They needed to be strung up by their-
"No," Martin scolded himself, "no, no violence needs to happen here." He slaps his forehead hard. "Damn it." He closes his eyes and looks back at the TV. "Spider-Man, hate to admit but yeah, I will have to get rid of him. Or at least keep him distracted."
Seeing the spider imposter on the news reminded Martin of something he had been meaning to do. He went into his desk and opened a drawer with a false bottom. He pulled out a phone book and flipped to a page. He dialed a number and waited patiently for the person to pick up.
"Hello?" he asked. The voice came back. "To whom am I speaking?" He got an answer and smiled. "Good." He was asked a question. "Yes, I understand the terms and agreements of this phone call and yes, this is business." He looks at the screen. "Oh, Mr. Dimitri Smerdyakov, I have a feeling you're going to love what you'll be getting into here in New York. I am positive about that."