"Hey, you okay?" Gwen asked, concern in her voice. "What's with your arm?"
"Just ripped my shirt," I shrugged it off as casually as possible. "There's a wounded woman in the van. Those idiots opened fire when it crashed and shot each other."
I jerked my thumb over my shoulder toward the overturned van and the crowd of rubbernecking onlookers.
"I'll tell someone to call an ambulance," Gwen said, scooping up the bag of cash the criminal had dropped. "Can you keep an eye on her? I need to tie up the ones in the van."
There wasn't that much money, really. Not even enough to buy a fraction of the equipment I needed for my lab. It was pretty reckless of the Rabbit to rob a little shop with such fanfare, especially when her accomplices were only getting paid a thousand a week. She couldn't be operating at a loss, could she? The girl must've been rich. That would explain her high-tech toys. To my shame, I only remembered her name from that one incident in my past life and never crossed paths with her again. I had no idea how unhinged she was, that she'd be perfectly willing to take a hostage, or even kill. Though, maybe that was just the influence of this crazy world.
"M-m-m!" Dodson tried to get my attention.
On her knees, bound hand and foot, she could only squirm and make muffled noises. Yet, using only her expressions and her eyes, she managed to communicate her thoughts quite eloquently. She just needed to glance at the bag in my hand and then jerk her head to the side.
"What?" I asked her. "You suggesting I take the money and run?"
The girl nodded vigorously, not caring that her luxurious hair was sweeping across the dirty rooftop.
"And what about you, then? Just let you go?" I smirked. "What? I can't understand you, you're too muffled... ah, you mean later you'll say you escaped with the money and even took me as a hostage?"
The Rabbit was agreeing enthusiastically with everything I proposed. But when I started pulling out my phone, she finally suspected something was wrong. Damn it, the screen was cracked.
"Say 'carrot'!" I said, throwing an arm around the criminal's shoulder. She just let out an angry whine. "Well, that'll do."
I snapped a couple of pictures. I still hadn't created any social media pages for myself. The old Peter couldn't have cared less about socializing, and I just never had time, what with all the chaos of the past few days. I needed to fix that.
"Alright, cops are on their way..." Gwen jumped onto the roof to the accompaniment of approaching police sirens. "What are you doing?"
"Just a souvenir. Want to join?" I grinned.
"Uh, no, I think I'll pass," I heard a hint of disdain in Gwen's voice.
Oh, really?
"Come on! You'll film for some cheap TV show, but you won't take a picture with me?" The girl couldn't immediately find a counter-argument.
"But just this once!" she finally agreed.
We took another shot, hugging the furiously struggling Rabbit from both sides. By this time, the police had already arrived and were busy cuffing the Rabbit's accomplices.
"Time to get out of here," I noted.
Gwen silently agreed, and we jumped off the back of the shop into its rear courtyard, leaving the cops to deal with the trussed-up villainess. I figured they could manage climbing a single-story building.
"You could've been the star of tonight's news if you'd stayed and given a statement to the cops and an interview to the press," Gwen said, pointing behind us.
"I already will be. I was caught on camera," I replied, giving her a long, appraising look.
"What?" she caught my stare. "Is there something on my face?"
Instead of answering, I tossed her some spare web fluid cartridges.
"I've improved the formula," I told her. "Now the webbing dissolves faster, about an hour... hmm hour and a half. Also, this version is harder to cut and tear. Make a tight enough net, and it'll stop a bullet."
"And you're just giving these to me?" she asked, shocked, but she swapped the cartridges immediately, without a second's hesitation.
Before I could think of a witty reply, a female cop squeezed through the gap between the shop wall and the next building, leveling her gun at us and shouting:
"Freeze! Hands on your head, now!"
"Hey, we did your job for you," Gwen protested, though she obeyed the cop's command.
"And I'm a kidnapping victim! Check the security tapes!" I echoed, raising my hands in sync with her.
Without any prior agreement, we both fired our webs at the cop. Gwen's shot gummed up the muzzle, and mine, a fraction of a second later, knocked the weapon out of the cop's hand.
"Get ready!" Gwen shot a web at a high-rise building, then, with her feet glued to the ground, stretched it like a slingshot.
Achieving the right amount of tension, she launched herself like a projectile, not forgetting to grab me by the waist in the process.
It was an awkward feeling. I was usually the one doing the saving. I might have even been scared if I wasn't currently under the influence of the Lizard serum, as a fall at that speed would most likely be fatal for a normal person.
But all of that was nothing compared to the joy that flooded me from the nearly forgotten sensation of flight. It had been so long since I'd felt this incredible rush. At that moment, I made up my mind once and for all: I had to find a way to become Spider-Man again. It was a part of me, my very nature, and I just couldn't give it up.
"Don't be scared," Gwen shouted over the wind.
She must have taken the frantic pounding of my ecstatic heart as a sign of fear.
"And could you maybe not squeeze me so tight?" she added right after. "Don't worry, I won't drop you."
So that was it. I loosened my grip slightly.
Finally, we landed in that same damn alley by my house. The one where Cindy's men had snatched me, and the same one where some vagrant had jumped me on my way home. Or rather, I landed, while Gwen hung from her web, anchored to the building's ledge.
"That was exhilarating," I said with a thrill. "Looks like I didn't make a mistake giving them to you."
"Yeah, this is an incredible piece of work," she agreed immediately. "They feel like they were made just for me. I don't even know how to thank you."
I looked at her, hanging upside down from her web, and a crazy thought crossed my mind. It seemed stupid at first, and even stupider on second thought, but... hey, this was a world of women, where I was just an ordinary guy, and she was Spider-Woman. Why the hell not?
"I think I have an idea," I said, stepping right up to her.
Our faces were level with each other. Gwen moved to stop my hands as I reached for the edges of her mask, probably thinking I didn't know who was under it. But I didn't stop, pulling the fabric down just enough to free her lips.
Damn. Even for me, this was an awkward moment. But I'd already come this far.
I carefully touched her lips. Jesus, I hadn't felt this nervous since I lost my virginity in my old world.
Gwen was stunned but didn't resist. She tentatively parted her lips, and I slipped my tongue in, deepening the kiss.
With my senses sharpened by the serum, I could hear her heart hammering. I couldn't say mine was beating any calmer. It was a long, and intensely thrilling kiss.
And then, Gwen shot straight up on her web, not saying a word. Maybe she was just overwhelmed and too embarrassed to speak?
Smiling smugly, I was about to head home when I heard a soft rustle from above. A small object, suspended from a thin thread of webbing, descended right into my hands.
My phone. When had she managed to swipe it? A fresh contact glowed on the screen: Amazing Spider-Woman.
Back home, my first instinct was to call Mary Jane, but then I noticed my fingernails were turning into sharp, massive claws. I glanced at my hand. The wounds were covering themselves in scales right before my eyes. But it had only been half an hour. Thank God Gwen hadn't seen this.
It must have been the stress and the injuries. The transformation was accelerating due to external factors. The racing heart, the adrenaline surges, the hormones. They'd all sped up my change into the Lizard. And the extensive injuries probably boosted the regeneration, too. I needed more tests.
I injected myself with the antidote and, once the external signs had vanished, called Mary Jane.
"Hello!" she answered immediately, her voice frantic. "Peter, is that you?"
"Yeah," I replied, and a wave of awkward guilt washed over me. I'd just kissed another girl. I understood that polygamous relationships were the norm in this world, but the dogmas drilled into me since childhood were kicking in, making me feel guilty toward Mary Jane.
"Are you okay? Where are you? Did they let you go?" A torrent of questions poured from the terrified girl.
"Yeah, yeah, Spider-Woman saved me. She brought me home. I'm fine. Where are you?"
"I'm still near the café. I'll grab a cab and come to you. Don't go anywhere," she said, relief palpable in her voice.
To avoid worrying her more, I decided to change into something clean and shower right away. I headed to the bathroom and quickly washed the blood and grime off my body.
Five minutes later, my phone trilled again, followed by the doorbell.
"I can't get in, the door's locked!" she said frantically over the phone.
"Hold on, I'm opening it," I said, hanging up.
The second I opened the door, Mary Jane threw herself around my neck, nearly bowling me over. Her clothes were disheveled, her face streaked with tears.
"I was so scared!" she cried, squeezing me in her embrace. "I thought they'd kill you!"
It hit me then what an idiot I'd been. I was so used to Mary Jane's understanding and acceptance of my hobby's risks in that other world, I hadn't even considered how terrified she must have been for me. I wasn't a superhero anymore. In her eyes, I was just a regular sixteen-year-old boy who'd been taken hostage by criminals.
"Hey, it's okay, it's okay," I whispered, soothingly stroking her back. "See, I'm perfectly fine. I'm not that easy to kill, as it turns out."
"Don't joke about that!" She pulled back to look me in the eyes, and I noticed a scrape on her forehead.
"Hey, what's this?" I asked, brushing aside the hair that covered the wound. "Did I do this?"
"What?" Mary Jane touched her forehead with surprise and stared at the blood on her fingers. "Must have hit the next table."
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have pushed you so hard!"
"You idiot," she said quietly. "You were trying to protect me."
What do you mean, trying? I did protect her, and quite successfully! But Mary Jane cut off my chance to say so with a gentle, tender kiss.
I liked this turn of events, but my joy was short-lived. Her phone rang.
"I'd love to stay," she said apologetically, "but I've already missed three calls from my mom."
"In that case, you'd better hurry and not push your luck," I grinned.
As it happened, I had no desire to sleep for the second night in a row. All thanks to the Lizard serum's effects. My body had renewed itself and demanded action. I would've happily burned that energy in bed with Mary Jane... but being a schoolgirl put a lot of restrictions on her. I'd kind of forgotten that, since neither Aunt May nor the school really affected my life. But legally, neither Mary Jane nor I were fully responsible for ourselves yet.
To do something, anything, I created my social media accounts and immediately posted our joint photo with Gwen and the Rabbit. At first, I wanted to repeat the old caption and write "caught!" again, but remembering how our adventure with Gwen had ended today, I changed it to "caught by us!"
I was sitting there, grinning stupidly at the caption, when I heard a knock on my bedroom window.
"Peter, it's me, open up," a familiar voice called.
"Mary Jane! What are you doing there?" I rushed to open the window, letting her in. She was wearing only short denim shorts and a red tank top.
"Mom grounded me," she explained, climbing inside. "No phone, no computer, and I'm under house arrest for not answering her calls."
"And you decided to make things worse by sneaking out?" I asked, amazed, grabbing her by the waist to sit her on my lap.
"I just thought, you're never at school, and now we won't be able to see each other until my mom cools down," she said, pressing her lips against mine in a passionate kiss.
Ignoring such an obvious invitation was simply impossible.
***
The morning started with a ring at the door. I had a bad feeling, so I didn't go to the door until I'd strapped on my combat gear: the web-shooters and the band with the last dose of the Lizard serum.
"Open up, police!" came the shouts from outside.
Of course... since my face had been caught in so many phone cameras, I hadn't even bothered to hide my involvement in yesterday's incident. But I hadn't expected them to come so quickly.
I also didn't expect that the one sent to my home would be a police officer I already knew.
"Caught you, Parker!" Sergeant Doakes grinned, her bald head gleaming with satisfaction.
She tried to barge into the house, but I blocked her way.
"What's this about?" I asked, not even trying to hide my displeasure.
"It's about you finally going down..." she started, but I wasn't about to tolerate her rudeness.
"Are you threatening me?" I interrupted her.
Her partner stepped in to help, explaining that I was only being called in as a witness. They could have just sent a notice, but Officer Doakes had volunteered to deliver it personally. I decided not to drag things out and agreed to ride to the station with them.
The second officer clearly sympathized with me and acted as a voluntary buffer between me and the angry bald woman.
At the station, I was led through an office crammed with cops like sardines and handed over to none other than Captain Stacy. As it wasn't hard to guess, Jane Stacy was Gwen's mother. Small world.
Once we were alone, the woman walked over to the glass door of her office and closed the blinds.
"Take a seat," she said, pointing to a chair.
Stacy was trying to stay neutral. She didn't use a rough tone, and in general, she was treating me with an oddly gentle manner. The reason soon became clear: Doakes had been in such a hurry to haul me in that she hadn't even bothered to get permission from my guardian.
After I described yesterday's events, Stacy started with some cautious questions about the topics she was really interested in.
"And what about this... webbing? Is what the Spider-Woman said true?" I noticed Jane grimace with distaste as she spoke of her daughter. Clearly, she didn't know who was hiding under the superheroine's mask.
"What did she say?" I asked cautiously.
"You didn't watch the news?" the woman asked, surprised, then called her secretary in. "Marie, show the boy the recording."
The captain's secretary quickly pulled up a recording of a short interview Gwen, it turned out, had given the press after she'd left me. Could that girl just not resist a camera pointed at her?
But she hadn't said anything I wasn't planning to reveal myself. She just admitted that the webbing she used in combat and to swing through the city wasn't her own invention, but a gift from a friend. The same friend who helped her apprehend the White Rabbit yesterday.
"Yes, that's true," I confirmed Gwen's words. "Is there a problem with that?"
Jane gave me a hard look, lit a cigarette, and drew a deep lungful of smoke.
"Who do you think this Spider-Woman is?" the captain asked. "A hero? A savior? No! I'll tell you who she is! She's a vigilante! She interfered with a police operation and made us look like idiots!"
Jane let her emotions slip for a second and raised her voice, jabbing the cigarette pinched between her fingers at the monitor.
"People like her only get in the way of police work!"
"With all due respect, the Spider-Girl is the one who came to my rescue. She saved me! And yesterday, I made a new batch of webbing for her. And I'll make more! If that's all..."
And then I finally learned what had fueled Doakes' excessive zeal.
"No, not all," Stacy said, suddenly calm. "Three of the detainees claim you were the one who beat them up. And they also say they saw your wounds heal in seconds."
"And you believe them?" I asked. "What's next? Are they going to say the White Rabbit is an alien who mind-controlled them and they're completely innocent? And you'll believe that?"
"I only believe what I see with my own eyes," Stacy replied. "I saw you step out of that crashed car and beat a robber with your bare hands. In my whole precinct, only a handful of women could do that, and all of them are adults with military training."
She paused to stub out her cigarette, then continued:
"And one of those officers, a woman I'd trust with my life, claims you were the one who assaulted her and gave her partner a nervous breakdown a week ago."
As I tried to gather my thoughts and come up with an excuse, a commotion broke out in the office. Jane opened her door to see what was happening, just in time to catch the climax of the events.
Doakes was standing right in front of Stacy's office, blocking the way for a tall woman in a business suit and sunglasses. I suspected the officer was currently conducting a psychological assault on the guest with her bulging, fixed killer stare.
The guest, however, was completely immune to it.
"What's the problem, Officer?" she asked calmly. "Are you about to assault a defenseless blind woman?"
"Defenseless, my ass!" the cop snarled back. "What do you want here, Murdock?"
"I'm here to offer my services to Mr. Parker," she said, losing interest in her opponent and looking straight at me. Then she turned to Stacy. "What's going on here, Captain? You've detained the boy? Is he a suspect?"
Murdock tried to walk around the obstacle, but Doakes stepped into her path again.
"Doakes!" Stacy cut in. "That's enough."
Reluctantly, the officer obeyed and stepped aside, but never stopped drilling the lawyer with her unblinking stare, like a guard dog ready to pounce.
I looked at this world's version of Daredevil with surprise. What was she doing, defending me? And besides, did I even need defending? I wasn't being accused of anything.
But... this was Murdock. If there was anyone in my world I could trust without hesitation, it was definitely Matt Murdock. A man of iron principles and will, a man who was always on the side of justice, both as a hero and as a lawyer, even when it hurt his case.