Captain Uni
Eddie Brock
Master Bruce
Sep
Cyberlad
Stacy Residence
Queens
The beauty of superhero-ing in the summer is the ability to sleep in. I managed to somehow beat dad home last nigt, but I'm guessing that's because he was already dealing with my mess from the night before. I heard him grumbling about the night at work as he came through the door. When he peaked in on me, I pretended to be asleep. I wasn't far off from actually being asleep, but I definitely wanted him to think I had been in all night.
Being the daughter of a detective is going to make the superhero life exhausting, huh?
I stretch out and put my bare feet on the shag rug that sits under my bed. Surprisingly, I don't feel like I stopped a however-many-ton truck with my bare hands last night. I guess I've got some super endurance mixed up in my DNA cocktail as well. Good to know, even if that's not something I really want to find the limits of.
Emerging into the empty, quiet hallways of our small house, I figure dad is still asleep. Instead of waking him, I creep quietly into the kitchen and start making some waffles. The two of us had tough nights, him more than me, most likely, and we deserve a high carb, low nutrition breakfast. I get an extra thrill when I see we have a half used bag of chocolate chips crammed into the back corner of the pantry.
"Score," I celebrate, tossing a handful into my mouth.
Idly, I flip the TV on to the news, and give a slight squeal of excitement as a story about my exploits from last night. The helicopter footage never gets a great look at me, but it does enough to show what I'm capable of. The moment I stop the truck illicites a gasp of amazement from the news anchor that feels pretty dang good.
"We'll now cut to an interview with the man that the super powered individual saved from certain doom last night," the male anchor smiles a hideously white smile. Like, blindingly white. To the point of being obnoxious. It's like I'm going to turn into a star baby staring at it.
Before too long, the guy I plucked off the motorbike appears on the screen, smiling like a guy with a new lease on life, "I dunno, man! I was just making a deliery when 'woosh'! In comes Spider-Woman and saves me from being street meat! It was like the coolest thing that's ever happened to me! A real life super hero."
The TV cuts back to neon mouth, "Well, there you have it folks. Maybe New York now has it's own Superman!"
"And he's a woman!" his female counterpart adds in.
"And she's not wanted," a groggy voice says from behind me, nearly causing me to fumble the bowl of batter I've been mixing while watching the report. Turning, I find my father, Captain George Stacy, sleepily scratching his beard, standing in the kitchen doorway wearing a beat up pair of gym shorts and an old Police League softball t-shirt. "Last thing we need is a superhero to add to the craziness of this town."
"I dunno," I shrug and pour the batter into the waffle iron, "it's kinda cool."
"I'm going to ignore that since you made waffles," he responds sarcastically as he puts on a pot of coffee. "Though she did manage to save some people while causing mass amounts of property damage...so at least she has that going for her."
Considering my father's normal reaction to superheroics, I'll take that half-hearted compliment as a win.
"She make you have a late night?"
He shrugs, "Not so much her as the robbers. The truck they stole was transporting money from a bank. A mob bank. Meaning someone was trying to screw someone else over. Which means if open warfare hasn't started yet, it's bound to sometime soon."
This new Major Crimes job dad picked up seems to be weighing on him more and more. I get it. Going up agains the Maggia, Kingpin, and the rest can't be fun, but at least it's relatively safe until arrests are made. If a gang war broke out, I'd be worried sick.
After losing mom, I don’t think there’s anyway I could handle losing dad.
"Add in a vigilante and everyone gets jumpy," he taps his finger on the counter as the coffee brews. "Jim's already seeing it in Gotham."
Oh god, he's going to go into his "All it would take is a few bad months to turn Manhattan in Gotham" rant again. I get that he's friends or whatever with their Major Crimes captain, but I think it's nuts to think New York would ever get as bad as Gotham.
"Oh, enough about Gotham," I shake my head and put a plate of waffles in front of dad as he pours his coffee. "Eat and be merry. It's a new day."
My father's eyes narrow, "Are you okay? There's something different about you."
I turn and give him the look. The 'Man, you are crazy" look that I've given him many, many times. It's one of the things I for sure inherited from my mom. That woman could give a look that could melt steel. It was the reason she never lost an argument with Captain George Stacy, who had put more than his fair share of dangerous criminals behind bars. Well, I mean, there were probably a million other reasons why she won the arguments, but I like to think it was because of the looks.
He raises his hands in defeat, "Fine. I won't ask. I did see you were hanging out with Peter the other-"
"Dad! That is enough. Or you don't get seconds," I threaten, waving a whisk in his face and splattering batter on the counter. The man wants me to date Parker in the worst way. Hell, sometimes I've wanted to date him in the worst way. At least when I'm not realizing that could also lose me my best friend. But now, after what happened, that course of action is for sure cut off. There's no way I could look Pete in the eyes like...that after Uncle Ben.
Dad laughs and mimes buttoning up his lip. In appreciation, I slide another waffle onto his plate.
**********
Ditko Luxury Apartments
Manhattan
The two men shuffle from foot to foot anxiously as their boss sits and eats breakfast. Sun filters in brilliantly, illuminating the marble accents of the apartment that cost more than the two mens' families had earned in their entire history upon the earth. The person sitting in front of them was not someone who looked upon failure lightly, and these men had failed. They hired the goons who got caught by Spider-Woman, and therefore the boss did not have their rivals' money.
"W-we're really sorry, boss," one of them manages to stammer out.
The crime lord holds up their hand to shush the man, "It is of no concern. The money was but a trifle, and now we know we have a want-to-be superhero on our hands. Your failure was illuminating. Plus, the money is now in the hands of the police. Our enemies cannot use it either, which was more of the idea all along."
"But boss," the other man winces as the one he's addressing looks up from their meal, "we got a superhero going against us. Shouldn't we call in the big guns?"
The crime lord smiles, "No. Not yet. So far this...Spider-Woman is merely a hindrance. I would prefer to feel her out first. See what she's really capable. Besides, we seem to have lucked out. Someone else is doing our work for us. Once he kills our enemies, we will slip into the vacuum they leave. Now, leave me. I wish to finish my meal in peace."
As the two men leave, the boss sips espresso, savors it, smiles, and says, "Let us see if this spider can manage to escape the trap of the Black Tarantula."
