Not a very long chapter but I hope you guys enjoy it anyway.
Guest: Pretty much. Phase Four had so many people acting OOC it's hard to pick just one thing Fiege wanted to focus on and single it out. Tell me about it. You'll see on Carol.
Ellie Bishop: It's about to get even harder for Peter. Indeed. It's a huge logical leap for Sam to go from Marko to Ross but it's not the first time they've heard of people getting powers from big power players. Yep. Indeed, Laura is a gem. Thor's been around for a long time, he didn't get there by just rushing in halfcocked, he knows how to plan and knows the value of dismantling alliances based on lies.
TW: Thank you.
Skrull ship
In the main control room, Talos grabbed a blaster, hearing the sounds of fighting outside. Hearing the cries of his fellow Skrulls, Talos gripped his blaster tightly as all the sound suddenly stopped. For a moment, all was silent save for the humming of the machines.
Then, the doors opened to revealing a glowing, glowering Carol Danvers. Talos immediately opened fire but Carol raised her hand, catching the blaster bolts which seemed to have no effect on her. Then, faster than Talos could blink, Carol had crossed the room and yanked the blaster from Talos. Using her power to completely disintegrate it, Carol then grabbed Talos by the throat and slammed him against the wall, glaring at him angrily.
"Carol, please," Talos started to beg, hoping he could talk his way out of this.
"Shut up," Carol snapped angrily. "I know Talos. I know about the Invasion, how you've been lying to me all these years. You used me as your puppet, turned me into your hitman. It stops now."
"Carol please, don't kill me. We were friends once," Talos pleaded.
"We were never friends. You just used me. But I'm not going to kill you, because I have a message from Thor," Carol said, releasing him and Talos dropped to the floor before looking up at her fearfully. "You're lucky he's more merciful than me. He's giving you one last chance to withdraw your Skrull imposters from Earth. Any humans you abducted are to be returned to Earth, their memories of their time captive erased. If you do not comply with Thor's demands, you will feel the full force of Asgard come down on you, and you know the Skrulls will not survive that. Choose carefully Talos."
Carol then stormed out of the room, leaving Talos fuming silently as he realized all his plans had been undone.
New York
Night
In a remote cabin, miles from the city, Gwen looked out the window of the cabin, seeing nothing but grass, trees and the night sky before drawing the curtain closed.
"Gwen," her mother, Helen called out from where she sat at the kitchen table and Gwen looked over at her. "Try and relax. It'll be fine."
"Easy for you to say. You're not the one that a serial killer with superpowers is after," Gwen muttered, regretting the words almost as soon as they left her mouth. "I'm sorry, that was uncalled for. I don't know why I'm so nervous. I had a front row seat to the Chitauri invasion."
"It's different when the monster is coming after you specifically," Helen said and Gwen looked up. "It's okay to be scared sweetie. That makes you human, it makes you a teenager."
"It sucks," Gwen grumbled as she plopped down into a chair.
"It does," Helen agreed. "Just try not to think about it too much. Your dad and the police are doing everything they can to find Marko."
"You really think the police can handle a super powered serial killer?" Gwen grumbled.
"I have to," Helen said simply. "Now, let's try and relax."
Outside, two US Marshall's were standing guard outside the cabin when one picked up a radio.
"Checking in. Hardison, you read?" the Marshall asked and frowned, receiving no answer. "Anyone hear from Hardison?"
No response was made and the two Marshalls each pulled out a gun, unease filling them.
"Think we should call for back up?" one of them asked.
"It's at least ten minutes out before any back up could get here. We're on our own for now," the other Marshall said grimly.
They then heard a noise coming from the woods and aimed their guns at the figure emerging from the woods.
"Stop! Hands up!" one of the Marshalls demanded.
Smirking, the figure raised his hands and they saw horrified as the moon shone down on them that it was Marko.
"Okay," Marko said smugly before his hands enlarged, turning into sand. "Have it your way."
His arms then turned to sand and Marko's arms then shot out towards the Marshalls. They opened fire on him but the bullets seem to have no effect on Marko. His hands grabbed the marshals and slammed them against the cabin wall so hard it shook the cabin.
Inside, Gwen and Helen looked up as the cabin shook and they heard the gunshots outside.
"What was that?" Gwen asked fearfully.
"I don't know, but we need to leave, now," Helen ordered, grabbing Gwen by the arm and leading her away from the front door.
Outside, Marko retracted his arms, turning them back to normal as the marshals fell to the ground, out cold.
"Sorry boys. But I have other business," Marko said as he walked over, pushing the door open.
Walking inside, he saw no sign of Gwen. Walking towards the kitchen, he saw an open window. Walking over to it, he saw Gwen and Helen fleeing towards the woods.
"The longer the chase, the slower the kill," Marko said with a smirk.
Turning his entire body into sand, Marko moved through the air at a fast pace, reaching the pair within seconds. Gwen yelped as sand wrapped itself around her leg and began lifting her into the air.
"Gwen!" Helen cried, trying to rush towards her daughter only for an arm of sand to reach out, pinning her to a tree.
As a giant head emerged above her, Gwen was sure she was going to die when two streams of webbing shot out, sticking to her arms. Gwen was then yanked out of the sand and up into a tree. Spider-Man caught her in his arms before setting her down, Gwen grabbing onto the tree to steady herself.
"You all right?" Peter inquired.
"Y-yeah. But my mom-"
"Will be fine. She's not who this guy is after," Peter pointed out.
As if to prove his point, a whirlwind of sand suddenly surrounded the tree, a face forming in front of the pair.
"Hand over the girl Web-head and no one gets hurt," Marko demanded.
"You gonna turn yourself into the police too? No dice," Peter said before yanking on some webbing he had placed while waiting.
To Marko's surprise, a log, suspended above the air in a nearby tree, suddenly swung over, striking him and reducing him to sand. The whirlwind stopped as the sand fell below to the ground.
"Stay here," Peter told Gwen before swinging down.
Peter landed a few feet from Helen, who looked at him startled as Marko reformed.
"Getting real tired of you getting in my way Web-Head," Marko snarled angrily.
"Yeah? I'm tired of having to be your parole officer," Peter quipped and Marko sneered.
"Think you're funny kid? Let's see how funny you are when I rip your head off!"
Marko's arms turned to sand once more and shot out towards Peter. Peter jumped into the air but, to his surprise, his arms then extended upwards and Marko's hands grabbed Peter by the legs. Peter let out a 'whoa' as he was thrown back towards the cabin.
Peter hit the side of the cabin hard enough to cause a crack to form in the side before falling to the ground, dazed. As he heard Marko approach, Peter started to pull himself to his feet. Looking up, he saw a hose nearby. Remembering how Marko had been affected by the water last time they fought, Peter got an idea.
"Time to say goodbye, Web-Head," Marko said mockingly, his hands turning to sand and enlarging until they were the size of bowling balls.
"I don't think so. The high tide's coming in," Peter quipped as he backed up towards the hose nob.
Using his webbing to pull the hose towards him, Peter then quickly turned the nob, causing the hose to fill with water. The spray came out violently, striking Marko in the chest.
"Hey! Stop that!" Marko snapped as Peter moved the hose back and forth, spraying him from head to toe.
"Sorry, I'm your parole officer," Peter joked, making sure he got Marko as wet as he could.
Peter then dropped the hose to the ground and rushed over to Marko, delivering a spinning kick to his chest. Marko went down, literally in pieces as Peter breathed heavily, knowing Marko would reform but not any time soon.
Then, he whipped his head up, his danger sense going off before several men in tactical gear armed with assault rifles burst onto the scene, all of them taking aim at Peter.
"Stand down Spider-Man. Now!" one of them barked.
"Hey, I'm your side here! I just helped stop this guy!" Peter protested.
"And thank you for catching a criminal we've been after. But our boss wants a word with you. Stand down," another barked. "We will open fire if you refuse to comply."
There was then the sound of a cock of a gun. The men in tactical gear looked over their shoulders to see Helen aiming a gun at them.
"Like Hell you are," Helen snapped.
"This doesn't concern you Ma'am," one of the men told her.
"It's Stacy, Helen Stacy. My Husband is Police Captain George Stacy. I'm sure he'd be very interested to know about armed men coming in to take in the superhero who just saved his wife and daughter from a serial killer," Helen threatened and all was silent for a moment.
"Sir, what do we do?" one of the men muttered to the leader.
"We're not killing the wife of an NYPD Captain. Bad press, and too easily traced to us," the leader said before signaling for the other men to lower their gun. "You get one get out of jail free card Spider-Men. But next time we meet, you won't be so lucky. Now get out of here before I change my mind."
Peter waited until all the men had lowered their guns before walking passed them. As he neared Helen, he slowed down slightly.
"Thank you," Peter said gratefully.
"You saved me. More importantly, you saved my daughter. I should be thanking you," Helen pointed out.
After a moment, Peter nodded. Peter began walking through the words when he looked up, seeing Gwen still in the tree. Peter waved at her before running through the woods, shooting off some webbing and using it to swing from tree to tree, Gwen watching before he vanished from view.
Like I said, not very long, but hope you enjoyed it.
And now Peter's storyline really begins, as he's drawn the attention of Ross while also gaining allies in the Stacies.
Helen would be played by Amy Acker.
