30 || a visit from a spider and a devil

"Oh, we are so majorly fu-"

1115, Fitz Apartment Complex, Queens, New York, October 2016-

DAYS UNTIL HOMECOMING: 6

The person walked into the room. revealing a very sheepish Peter Parker. "H-hey, Alison." Peter gave a sheepish smile, one that only Peter Parker could truly display. "I just saw Mister Stark leave your apartment, and I can't tell you how awkward of an encounter that was. How are you?"

Alison was honestly surprised by the visit from Peter. "I'm doing worse than I was yesterday afternoon," She stated, gesturing for Peter to shut the door while doing so. "But better than this morning. So I suppose I'm alright at the moment. How about you? Snarky Stark get up all in your business?"

Peter nodded. "I was given the scolding of a lifetime. And humiliation. After the lecture, Tony gave me pink Hello Kitty pajama bottoms and an "I Survived My Trip to NYC" shirt, that was very oversized." His cheeks seemed to flush red at the mention of the clothes was wearing. "Not to mention the small lecture I got from my aunt."

Alison gave a small laugh at the outfit that Peter explained. "That sounds like a whole lot of fun. And to be clear, this was after you took me home?" She seemed a little confused, the details already slightly fuzzy in her head. "I was fading in and out of consciousness when you did that." Alison explained.

"W-what?! No!" Peter exclaimed, his mind thinking of possible ways out of this converstaion topic. "I took you back to the ferry station, where your brother was still waiting. Though it was a hassle to try and hide your suit from the public. But to be perfectly honest, I think we managed it just fine."

"Okay," Alison nodded, still unsure of the words that were coming out of Peter's mouth. "How's your day been regardless?" She asked, slightly concerned for the fellow hero in front of her. "I would assume that something bad has happened, seeing as you've come to see me today."

"Uh- well-" Peter seemed rather awkward, his hands still hiding behind his back. "I came to give you these." He held out his hands, revealing a small box, and another bouquet of flowers. "Kind of an apology for everything situation I've seemed to put you in."

It was an awkwardly adorable scene, seeing Alison take the bouquet of jasmines, and the small box. "What's in this box?" She asked, quirking an eyebrow at the boy. "This isn't a love proclamation or something, right?" Alison teased, a small devilish smirk on her face.

"W-what?" Peter was caught off guard, almost falling off of his balance that he had on the ground. "T-that's ridiculous, no. No, no, no." He denied, rushing out the words, almost like it was, in fact, a love declaration. "Just open the box."

Alison obliged, opening the box to see a small necklace with a lightning bolt on it. It was a small copy of the Flash insignia, and it made Ali want to smile and laugh at the same time. "The Flash insignia? Are you kidding me Parker?"

Peter's cheeks flushed red with embarrassment. It was rather dorky, yes, but he thought Alison would appreciate it, given her younger brother liking comics and the like. "I-I mean, I can take it back if you'd like me to, I just thought-"

"It's perfect Peter." Alison laughed, shutting the box again. "I was just giving you a hard time." Placing the box on her bed's nightstand, she looked up at Peter. "And while these grandeur gestures are quite enjoyable, I do have to ask-" Ali leaned closer to Peter, her back coming off of the pillows. "What else do you need from this bribery?"

"Bribery?" Peter laughed for a second, putting on an act. "I don't- fine." He gave in, sitting on the edge of the bed. "I want to- well if you'll help me that is- ask- you to..." Peter trailed off, seeming very vague.

"Parker, this is getting very monotonous and repetitive. Please just tell me what you're implying here. It's not like I can read minds or anything." Alison sighed, rubbing her temple. "Although that would be a good superpower...."

Peter finally manned up, and asked Alison the question he had been dying to ask her all day. "Would you help me find a way to ask Liz to Homecoming?" He blurted out, finally getting the worry off of his chest. "You're one of her closest friends, and I thought that you would know her the best out of everyone I knew."

Alison almost wanted to burst out laughing. "Peter, that's the best thing that anyone's asked me all day! And the day's almost ending." She flashed Peter a smile that was genuinely happy. "Of course I'll help you woo Miss Liz Allen."

Peter's attitude immediately brightened. "Great! I thought I would have to grovel at your feet in order to even get you to agree." He gave a hesitant chuckle, scratching the back of his neck. "Not that I even considered having to grovel at your feet, of course."

Alison reached over and patted Peter's hand in a friendly way. "So, let's get down to work, yes? I've got some great-" A knock on the apartment door interrupted the two's conversation. It was very muffled, but with Peter's great hearing and Alison's recognition of her apartment's hollow front door being knocked on, the two were kind of knocked off course.

"I'll get it!" Charles' voice could be heard, and his small footsteps could be heard scampering towards the door. He could be heard peeking through the peephole, and concern molded onto the next words he spoke. "Jackie! It's a stranger! She looks rather ominous..."

Alison and Peter flashed each other a nervous look, hearing the conversation through the door, albeit a rather muffled one. "Peter," Alison whispered, looking at the fellow superhero. "Open the door, we want to know what's going on out there."

Peter nodded, carefully creeping over to prop the door open. While it wasn't the best idea, and the proper plan would of been to lock the door entirely, the two teenagers didn't know better. He ran back over to his friend (and superhero partner), almost tumbling onto the bed.

"You have your web shooters, right?" Alison whispered, watching her cousin walk out of the office that was across from Alison's room. "Cause if you don't, Peter Parker, I swear to god-"

Peter answered all of Ali's questions with one gesture, in which he pulled his jacket sleeves, revealing his signature Spider-Man web shooters. "Wouldn't leave home without them." Peter let out a hesitant laugh.

Alison let out a rather audible sigh of relief as she laid back in her bed. "So we're not entirely screwed. That's nice to know." She looked at the small bedroom door, hearing Jackie open their front door. This was it.

"Hello?" Jackie answered the door, seeing a strange woman at the door. "How may I help you?" Her eyebrows were knit with confusion, seeing the woman open the door with a wicker basket filled with goodies.

"Hi! My name is Luciana Villanueva. I just moved into 1313, two floors above you?" The woman, revealing herself to be the woman Luciana, said from the outside of the apartment doorframe. She was dressed in a rather strange outfit, one that looked like a dark and warped version of the Supergirl outfit. A mask like a woven black crown was resting on her face, making the whole outfit look rather ominous . "I met your daughter a few days ago? I believe it was Friday."

Jackie gave a small-but skeptical- smile. It was just a new tenant in the building, but with some really sketchy clothes. "Actually, she's my cousin." She corrected, pushing up her glasses up with a small bit of irritation. "But thank you for the gift basket, I'm sure that-" Jackie inspected the basket, filled with wine and a few jams. "Will come in handy. Now if you'll excuse us-"

"Oh! Actually I was hoping to come in. Get to know some of the other tenants and all of that." Luciana made a little gesture with her hands, hoping to come off as friendly. "If that's alright with you. I have a few minutes before I go off to my cosplay convention." She winked over at Charles, who looked rather scared of the woman from the sofa.

Charles was silent, something very uncommon for the superhero-loving kid. His eyes barely peeked over the sofa, still mistrusting of the woman who had just invited herself into their house.

From inside the bedroom, Alison's eyes widened, looking over at Peter. "Peter, that's the lady who told me to get onto the ferry!" She whispered sharply, recalling the experience. "She's the one who basically made me get into the whole ferry mess!" Her eyes were still trained on Luciana, who was standing in the middle of the apartment's living room.

Peter, who was still sitting on Alison's bed, had a concerned expression on his face. "Charles was discussing that with the "Spider-Man," the new lady who was kind of sketchy. Keep your eyes and ears out." He whispered back to Alison, fairly certain the woman could hear them now.

Luciana walked over to the kitchen, which was out of the two's sight limit. "So, Alison told me that you've been living here for three years." Luciana looked around at the quaint adornments of the Anderson-Marnell house.

"Ah, and that's where my cousin would be wrong. She and her brother have lived here for three years. I've lived here for at least five years." Jackie looked at the woman, now starting to get a little skeptical of Luciana. "I'm surprised she told you that."

"Ah, well. You can get the weirdest things out of teenagers." Luciana laughed, seeing Jackie reaching into the back of her pants to try and grab her phone. "And you can get adults to be oblivious and let them into your apartments." She gave quite an evil smile, grabbing the phone out of Jackie's hand. Luciana dropped the phone to the floor, stepping on it with her foot.

"Alison!" Jackie yelled, starting to get alarmed. "Grab Charles and call Mister-" Luciana had taken a metal pan from the stove, still leftover from breakfast, and slammed it across Jackie's face.

Charles, who was watching the spectacle from the sofa, was absolutely terrified. Especially when Luciana turned to face him. Walking towards the younger brother of Alison, Luciana cocked her head to one side, almost curious at the young boy before resting her head normally once again.

"Hello, kiddo." Luciana smiled, waving her fingers with the devilish smile still adorned on her face. "I do believe that it is well over your time to be awake. You were supposed to have your nap time three minutes ago!"

"What's that supposed to-" Charles began to ask, not before Luciana reached out her hand to place on Charles' forehead, causing the young kid to collapse into sleep on the sofa.

Alison gave a small gasp, audible from outside of her bedroom. The two teenagers had seen the whole ordeal. But before Ali could finish her loud (and long) gasp, Peter clamped his hand over her mouth, holding up his other hand with a shushing gesture.

Unfortunately, Luciana had heard Alison's expression of shock. Pivoting around to face the corridor, the dark colored eyes of Luciana inspected the hallway. No one could be down there, unless.......

The loud stomp of boots could be heard down the corridor, and Alison and Peter were frozen with fear in their place. The door was wide open, and their expressions were full of fear, Peter readying his webs in the shooters that he had brought. He was fumbling, Peter's hands shaking, as he tried to prep himself to try and protect himself and Alison from whoever this powered lady was.

By the time Luciana made her way to the open door of Alison's room, Peter had his web shooters ready. In an almost creepy manner, Luciana slowly made the iconic villain turn. A small look of curiosity entered her face as her eyes laid sight to the two heroes.

"Ah, if it isn't the Spider-Man and his trusty friend Breakout." Luciana walked into the bedroom, watching Peter fumble helplessly with his web shooters, aiming one web at the woman's face. "I wouldn't do that if I were you." Luciana smiled, flicking the web shooter off its course with one slight move of her hand.

Peter looked shocked, his mouth forming a few words that could barely be heard. "H-how did y-you-" He couldn't speak anymore, his eyes filled with fear as the woman walked closer and closer to the two of them.

"And why would I tell a spare like you?" Luciana almost questioned him, her voice becoming more and more warped with every word she spoke. "You're clearly not who I came here for." She walked closer and closer to Peter, repeating the action she had done to Charles outside.

Peter collapsed onto the bed, falling the opposite way of where Alison lay. "Peter!" She exclaimed, her hand reaching out to grab Peter's falling body, but to no avail. Alison had leaned forward too far, exposing herself to Luciana's wrath, and pushing her back pasts its very poor current limits.

"Crying for your little partner, are we?" Luciana gave a cackle, walking to the side of Alison's bed. She pushed the fifteen year old back into her cushion of pillows, wrenching ahold of Alison's face with one hand. "My father has a fascination with you, and I have absolutely no clue why..."

Alison couldn't speak properly, her face being almost squished by the ominous woman in front of her. "Who... are... you?" She made out, trying to release herself from the grasp of the obvious villain in front of her.

"Absinthe, Daughter of Thanos, Sister to the Black Order, Warbringer. Bringer of death, destruction, and your demise." Luciana, or Absinthe, stated, giving Alison an almost death glare. "Unfortunately, today is not the day of your death. My father and I have plans for you yet." She released her hold on the teenager's face, slowly returning to a normal standing position, no longer leaning over Alison.

"Why are you here then?" Alison gasped, looking at the woman with a scared and most definitely frightened look. "Why even bother to approach me here today?"

"Because, Miss Marnell, every heroes' death needs a story, and yours begins today." Luciana smirked with an evil glare in her eyes, turning her back to Alison, her cape swooping behind her. "Good luck getting out of this alive."

With that final sentence, Alison was left alone in her apartment with an unconscious cousin, a sleeping Charles, and Peter Parker lying in an almost coma in front of her, all of that finished off with a haunting memory that would creep into her dreams for the rest of her numbered days.

<~•~>

everybody say OOF

~OOF~

OOF OOF

~OOF OOF~

as much as I wanted to finish this like that, I know I needed to make a small note.

GUYS- WE HIT 10K!

because of this, I feel that I need to ask a few questions

A- do you guys feel I should edit the first few chapters? I feel that they're a little choppy, but maybe that's just me being a critic to myself

B- what would you guys like to see next in this book and on my account? this will be a marvel book account only for the time being, unless I decide to plan an original book...

C- ANY CRITICISMS OF THIS BOOK? don't be too harsh, but if you feel like I make Alison the victim too much or something (yikes if I feel that I should definitely make adjustments) let me know!

I just would like to thank every single one of your reading this book, my first novel that is basically my pride and joy, and for following me on this journey that is barely beginning.

anyways, I hope you all enjoyed, and I'll see you in the next chapter!