Spider-Man: Issue #2: Two is the Loneliest Number (Patreon)

Peter Parker swung through the city on patrol. His friend and newfound spider powered ally, Miles Morales, followed with his own style of web slinging. It had been two weeks since the pair along with She-Hulk took down, what Peter dubbed, the Terrifying Trio of Rhino, Shocker and Swarm.  

Swarm had originally gotten away, though he had been defeated. A few days later they caught up with him trying to rob a convivence store as he fled the city. The pair caught him, but not without Miles getting stung a lot.  

In the two weeks, Miles had also been modifying the suit Peter had given him. It helped the newest wall crawler feel more at home. While he hadn’t addressed the sizing issue as the shirt and pants were a bit loose, he had changed the color scheme, dying parts that used to be blue and red to black with red highlights. Peter liked it and honestly wished he had designed his suit to be closer to that. 

They had just finished stopping their fourth attempted break in of the week, and Peter’s headset in the mask began to ring. He motioned for Miles to stop at a nearby roof as the caller id told the original wall crawler this was an important call. 

Tony Stark was calling him. 

Whenever the man known as Iron Man called him in the past it was because he needed Peter as bait or a distraction or as a favor. Usually, it ended up with Peter either covered in disgusting chemicals that took weeks to get out of his suit, or his suit came back destroyed enough that it took a week to fix it. 

A big part of Peter didn’t want to answer at all. He was helping train Miles and just the general chaos of the Big Apple kept him busy, but if Tony was calling, it was always for something important. 

Against his better judgement, he answered.  

“Hey, Petey.” Tony said as Spider-Man picked up. As per usual Tony tried to act like it was a social call, it was of course going to be anything but. In the background, explosions and sounds of blasting fire could be heard. 

“Are you alright?” Peter asked urgently as Miles tilted his head confused. If there was a fight in the city, Peter wanted to get there as soon as possible to make sure no one got hurt. 

“What? That?” Tony asked as another explosion could be heard. “Yeah, just dealing with some stuff out in space.” 

Iron Man was keeping it intentionally vague, which Peter hated. Tony loved being in everyone’s business, but he always kept his business in the dark until he needed something. 

“You’re in space right now?” 

“Yeah, off world. Flying through the edge of the unknown to do a thing. Bruce, Thor, and Jessica are here too. I’ll tell them you said hello.” Tony said, his voice strained slightly as it sounded like he was dodging incoming fire while blasting back with the energy beams from his suit.  

“I can’t go to space, Tony.” Peter said putting his foot down. Miles put his hands on his head in shock. 

“Is that Tony Stark?” Miles asked as Peter tried to shush him away. 

“Who was that?” 

Peter sighed. 

“That’s my protégé.”  

“Your what?” 

“My protege, my student, whatever you want to call him I’m showing him the ropes.” 

The connection went dead for a moment before Tony spoke again. 

“Crazy." Was all Tony said. Peter let out an annoyed groan. 

“If you just called to give me grief, I can hang up and get back to training him. Still working on web swinging.” 

Miles looked slightly hurt by the comment, but he wasn’t used to the fast movements yet of swinging around the city. 

“Oh, he’s another spider....guy? Hear that Jess, you got a new cousin.” Tony yelled to Jessica Drew, who was probably as annoyed with Tony as Peter was.  

“Goodbye Tony.” 

“Wait.” Tony said and Peter didn’t disconnect as they were finally getting to why Tony called him. 

“I need a favor.” 

Spider-Man let out a louder groan. 

“Not for me. I mean yes for me, but it is more for Pepper.” Tony said. He knew Peter might say no to a favor for him, but a favor for Pepper Pots, the current CEO of Stark Industries and Tony’s on-again off-again girlfriend, Peter wouldn’t turn down. 

She had helped him, Peter Parker not Spider-Man, a lot. He owed her a favor or two. 

“What do you need?” 

“Friday, fill in my friend. Peter I’ll talk to you later and have fun teaching.” Tony said before hanging up, goodbyes were not his strong suit. 

A computerized voice took over and Peter listened to Friday, one of Tony’s many AI programs. 

“There is a 99.996% probability that in the next 120 hours Stark Industries will be robbed. Starting two and a half months ago, there have been a series of break-ins at multiple facilities with the goal of acquiring information or high-powered technological equipment. With a probability of 99.99% Stark Industries in Manhattan has one such item that corresponds with the previous thefts. Mr. Stark has allowed me to inform you that the item is a new form of energy emitter that is fully stabilized for multiple volatile energy sources. The items is being kept in Stark Industries behind one of the most advance security systems in the world. The only two people to enter the lab where it is being kept are Mr. Stark and Ms. Potts. With a 99.1% probability Ms. Potts wellbeing is at risk.” 

Peter rubbed his temples. Even for him, this was a dry lecture.  

“What’s happening? What did I miss?” Miles asked as Peter formulated a plan or at least the best he could come up with. 

“Change of plans, at least for the next few days. We get the worst part of being a superhero.” 

“What?” 

“Stakeout duty.” 

Miles soon learned why stakeout duty was the worst. It was a lot of time just waiting around. The pair took turns watching Stark Industries and following Pepper as she went about her day, which was mostly meetings and a few press events. 

Luckily, Peter and Miles could keep an eye on her in shifts. It was Miles turn as Pepper was having a late night in the office. The sun was going down and it was almost seven. He hadn’t seen anything suspicious so far and it was boring, but he kept an eye while watching from the side of a nearby skyscraper. 

Across town, Peter had just foiled a carjacking. The would-be thief was currently webbed to a lamp post as Spider-Man took off.  

“I’m heading over right now.” Mary Jane said to Peter over his blue tooth headset in his mask. He had just finished explaining how Tony had called asking him to keep an eye on Pepper. Then MJ dropped her own bombshell of going to interview the CEO tonight as it was Pepper’s only free time. 

“It has been quiet all week, I’m sure there is nothing to worry about.” Peter said worrying as of course MJ would have to be added to the mix in case anything went wrong. They used to fight about it a lot and while Peter was stubborn and could be a dumb male, he also knew when not to push it. They had just started talking again, he wasn’t going to ruin that by being overprotective to Mary Jane, especially when nothing had happened for the past few days. 

“It’ll be fine, Peter.” She said. They had known each other long enough she knew what he was thinking. 

“Yeah, Miles is on shift watching nearby and you can keep an eye out for me if anything looks suspicious.”  

“Uh huh.” She said, and he could hear the gears moving in her brain to figure out if she should be happy, he wanted her involved or insulted that she had an extra job that he dictated.  

“Ugh, hold on.” She said and he could hear her pull the phone from her head and type out a message. 

“Work?” He asked once he could hear the phone move back to her. 

“Yeah, just Eddie. The new photographer. He can’t come with me tonight and is pestering me for the kind of shots to get.” 

“If you need any help with the camera just let me know.” Peter offered as he was also a pohotgrapher. 

“I’ll be fine. I’m heading inside. I’ll call you later.” 

“Bye.” 

“Bye.” 

And Mary Jane hung up. Peter couldn’t help but think of her. While they weren’t officially a couple or even hinting at it, he couldn’t help but pine for her. Just thinking about her drove him wild. Peter could imagine Mary Jane walking into Stark Industries. A pair of tight jeans, a white blouse, and her red hair up in a bun. Her backpack slung over one shoulder as she headed inside. 

Back at Stark Industries headquarters, Mary Jane was doing just that. Peter had correctly guessed what she was wearing as she got into the elevator and headed to the top floor to meet with Pepper Potts. 

MJ had met Pepper on more than one occasion. Pepper and Tony were like her and Peter. They knew a lot about the company they kept, and their relationships were rocky to say the least. Truthfully, the only reason MJ was able to get this interview was meeting Pepper a few years back at an Avengers holiday party. They had hit it off as the few normal civilians there.  

It opened a door that for her that would hopefully lead to bigger and better things at the Bugle. She smoothed out her blouse on the elevator ride up. The lobby had been mostly empty besides the security guard, who looked more asleep than fit for duty.  

“Mary Jane, how wonderful to see you.” Pepper said as MJ got off the elevator on the top floor. It was the executive suite, the elevator opening to a large lobby with Pepper’s large office. 

“Good to see you, Pepper.” MJ said as they shared a quick hug. While MJ had dressed business casual, Pepper dressed business chic. Her red hair was also up like MJ’s but had clearly been done by a professional hairdresser. Pepper’s outfit was a sleeveless, tight black dress that stopped just above the knee along with a pair of black heels that forced MJ to look up at her fellow red head. It looked more at home at a cocktail party than office work. Around her neck she had a gold locket that Pepper had revealed to MJ at the holiday party had a picture of Pepper and Tony inside it. 

They entered Pepper’s office and MJ took a seat as the CEO took her spot behind the desk. Mary Jane went over the basics of what she wanted the story to be. The focus was on Pepper being the most powerful woman in the tech industry.  

Mary Jane put her phone down on the desk and hit record. 

“Mary Jane interviewing Pepper Potts, CEO of Stark Industries.” She said into her phone. 

“Do I say my name?” Pepper asked, letting out a soft giggle as this was more personal than a normal interview she had done. Before Mary Jane could say anything, someone interrupted. 

“Would have rather waited but took you two long enough to just get started.” A woman’s voice from above said.  

The two figures landed from the ceiling behind MJ. Pepper let out a gasp at their sudden appearance. They were both feminine and looked similar to the well-known wall crawler. The one on the left wore nothing on her head, letting her short black hair loose around her ears. She wore a red fabric around her lower face; her torso was covered in a white web design with a small red spider in the center while the arms and legs of the costume were in black.  

The other was also wearing mostly black and white. This one was in a full coverage suit, black fabric just below her bust to her ankles, from above white with some smaller blue and red designs on her elbows. She wore a full mask like Spider-Man's but white with pink outlines around the eyes. This costume also had a hood that was currently covering her head.  

“Ms. Potts, we’re going to need you to come with us.” The hooded one said hopping over the desk to land next to Pepper. The CEO let out a startled shout as her rolling chair tipped over and she landed on the floor with the hooded woman stood over her. Pepper quickly got to her feet, looking at the other women in the room looking nervous. 

MJ had been involved in enough of Peter’s adventures that being confronted by some spider powered knockoffs didn’t phase her, but the closest Pepper had ever been on one of Tony’s adventures as Iron Man was being on the phone with him.  

“Come on, Ms. Potts. Just follow my lead and no one will get hurt.” The hooded woman said placing an arm on Pepper’s shoulder. While the CEO was taller in her heels, the hooded woman was stronger.  

“Who are you two? Spider-Man groupies?” MJ asked not hiding that she wasn’t impressed by either of them. 

“Ew, no.” The one in the half mask said as the hooded one began marching Pepper out of the room. Pepper and the hooded woman made it around the desk and MJ moved to follow but the black-haired woman moved to block her path. The pair kept moving as Mary Jane watched Pepper ushered towards the elevator. 

“What are you going to do with her?” The one wearing the hood asked, looking at her partner, her hand never leaving Pepper’s shoulder. 

“I’ll make sure she sticks around.” The other one said, and MJ could hear her smile under her mask. Somehow even with a mask on, the hooded woman looked disappointed. The elevator dinged and Pepper was ushered on and the doors closed. 

MJ knew she had to buy herself time. Miles was watching and would call Peter, the calvary was on its way. She opened her mouth to keep this dark-haired woman talking but before she could a small bit of webbing shot out from the woman’s wrist, slamming into MJ’s mouth. 

The redheaded journalist’s hands went to her mouth to try and dislodge the webbing, but that was impossible as she kept trying to pull it off and getting nowhere. She could still breath through her nose, but it was still panic inducing. More panic set in as the woman webbed Mary Jane’s hands together as she tried to pull the webbing from her mouth.  

She tried to scream, but the webbing made that impossible. The redheaded reporter turned to run but the dark-haired woman was too close and made escape impossible. The mysterious spider powered woman put her hand on MJ’s shoulder. 

“I don’t think so.” The woman said as her hand clamped onto Mary Jane’s shoulder keeping her in place. Her other hand quickly grabbed MJ by the seat of her jeans, causing the red head’s eyes to open wider from shock and a new form of discomfort. 

“I’ve wanted to try this since I got these abilities.” The half-masked woman said as her hand at the back of MJ’s jeans snaked past the journalist’s blouse and gripped the waistband beneath.  

Mary Jane could little more than shout into her webbing gag as with one hand her captor lifted her off of the ground by her underpants. The red head could do little more than kick her legs in pained discomfort as she hung in the air by the back of her pink boyshorts with little white hearts that had exited her pants and were now firmly wedged between her cheeks.  

She hung there in discomfort and humiliated for what felt like minutes, but was probably only seconds. That feeling went away as the mystery woman flung her back by her stretched undies. The humiliation was replaced by fear as MJ slammed into the wall, softer than she expected but she didn’t fall to the floor. Her captor had just webbed her to the wall like Peter had done to many of his adversaries.  

The main difference was she had an extremely uncomfortable wedgie. 

“I don’t really have a pun or anything. Once we’re gone, someone will come get you down and you’ll be fine. It is biodegradable anyways; it’ll only last a few hours.” The woman moved towards the elevator before stopping and turning back. “It wasn’t personal.” 

With that the half-masked mystery woman headed down to join her compatriot. Mary Jane hung her head in annoyance. She also hoped Miles hadn’t seen that. 

Miles in fact had not seen that. The first thing he did was call Peter, who was on his way. The senior Spider-Man told him to look for access points to get in but don’t engage unless it looked like someone would get hurt. The newer Spider-Man had missed MJ’s embarrassment at the hands of one of these new mysterious women as he was too busy looking for an access point. 

He managed to locate one just as Peter landed on the roof. The pair entered and busted through an air duct into Pepper’s office to find Mary Jane webbed to a wall. 

“Are you alright?” Peter asked as he helped get the webbing off of her face. The back of his mind registered he was cleaning webs off of Mary Jane, webs like his. The moment it was gone and she took a deep breath, she spoke again. 

“Does it look like I’m alright Peter?” She asked and Miles let out an audible gasp. Peter slapped his own forehead for forgetting to mention MJ knew his secret. He had told his protege that he knew her, but not that she knew he was both Peter Parker and Spider-Man. 

“She knows, I told her its fine.” He said ripping the webbing off to get Mary Jane off the wall without damaging her blouse, it was sticky enough that clothing sometimes was damaged from web removal. She landed awkwardly but managed to keep both Spider-Men in front of her. 

“I’ve been keeping his secret for years, it’s fine. He tells me everything.” She said, trying to calm down the younger superhero. Miles looked between the two of them for now. 

“Everything?” 

Miles put two and two together. 

“Dude, you told her my secret identity too?” Miles asked though he knew the answer. The disappointment in his mentor not being hidden.  

“We can discuss this later, Pepper’s just been kidnapped.” Peter said, his tone shutting down this line of conversation. 

“Right, sorry.” Miles said. 

“They took her down.” MJ said before looking at Peter, her face a bit more solemn.  

“They both have spider powers.” 

Peter nodded as the full weight of that knowledge hit him. He looked to Miles. 

“Did anyone else interact with the spider that bit you? Did you see it bite anyone else before it got to you?” 

The younger hero shook his head. 

“I don’t think so, but I honestly don’t know. It happened so quick and there was a lot going on.” Miles said. Peter nodded. 

Miles had told him it had happened during a class trip his senior year. Green Goblin had attacked the lab the trip was at and a spider got loose biting him as students fled the building. Peter’s own experience wasn’t that different, but clearly someone else might have interacted with that spider.  

Or worse, there were more radioactive spiders roaming New York City. 

“Come on, we have to get Pepper out of here.” Peter said to Miles before turning to Mary Jane. 

“You’ll be okay?” He asked and her heart fluttered for a moment at the concern in his voice. He was always there for her. 

“Yeah, I’ll be fine. Go save the day.” She said, smiling and nodding as Peter and Miles headed to the stairwell. The pair disappeared, dropping down to the lower levels. 

Mary Jane waited for the door to the stairs to close before she stuffed her hands down the back of her pants and plucked her boyshorts from between her cheeks. It took her a moment, but soon everything was back to where it was supposed to be. 

Now she just needed to figure out how to turn this into a story since Pepper was gone before she even got a useable quote.  

Down on one of the many floors that didn’t appear on the blueprints, Pepper was being escorted by the mysterious woman in the hood. She had told the CEO no harm would come from her, but she needed something from Stark Industries that only Pepper could acquire. 

The dark-haired woman had landed next to her hooded friend, and the pair were walking and talking like they were at the mall, while Pepper led them to the prize of a brand-new emitter. 

“You seriously did that?” The hooded woman asked giggling. 

“I couldn’t help it; she gave me pretentious vibes.” The other said Pepper used her fingerprints and eyes to unlock the door.  

“There.” Pepper said as the door swung open. She moved so the pair could see a full lab on other side and in the center of the room was the prototype emitter. Before either could move a webline shot out, smacked into the door and it was pulled closed. The three women turned to see Spider-Man and slightly shorter Spider-Man in a more black and stylish suit. 

“Have you two been going to my tailor?” Peter asked as he and Miles took a few steps towards the pair. The two women took a few steps forward, Pepper now behind them. The CEO’s eyes were looking for an exit in the dead-end hallway. 

“I figured we’d run into you at some point.” The hooded woman said as the two pairs of spider powered people faced off. 

“Criminals usually do run into us.” Miles said. 

“We’re not criminals!” The dark-haired woman’s eyes narrowed at Miles in annoyance. 

“I’m pretty sure breaking and entering and kidnapping a CEO is a crime somewhere on the books.” Peter said, getting the attention back on him. The moment the two women’s focus was on Peter, Miles shot a web out, swung around the small hallway, bouncing off the walls, grabbed Pepper and ended up back next to Peter in quick fashion. The redheaded CEO didn’t even have time to scream. 

“Go get Pepper out of here.” Peter said to Miles. The newer Spider-Man held onto Pepper and shot towards the stairwell. This time Pepper had time to scream. The two mystery women moved towards the stairwell door, but Peter jumped in front of them. 

“Hey, we should really talk about this.” Peter said, holding up his hands. The hooded woman fired a blast of webbing at him. He managed to see it coming and dodged, but in doing so had to move away from the door.  

The dark-haired one was through the door first, followed by the hooded woman. Peter gave chase. He knew these two were dangerous, and Miles wouldn’t stand a chance on his own. 

It was quick work getting up the stairwell for all three, and he began firing webbing to try and slow the pair down. 

“Come on.” The hooded one said to her partner as she stopped a few floors below the stop Miles and Pepper had gone. The pair burst into a large hallway with many doors to different offices.  

Spider-Man was right on their tail, jumping through the door. While they thought they’d be able to lose him in the maze of corridors; the opening meant Peter didn’t have to worry about hitting railings with his webbing as they jumped back and forth. He took aim with both hands; a trick he had practiced a lot to hit two moving targets at once. 

Peter fired two strands of webbing. On catching the hooded woman’s ankle, the other catching the dark-haired woman in the center of the back. He pulled as hard as he could, not wanting to risk their own spider strength overpowering him. 

The two women tumbled back. The half-massed one landed in a heap, while the hooded one landed on her feet. She pulled the webbing off her ankle before helping her compatriot get it off her back. 

“Hold on, I have to handle this.” She said marching towards Spider-Man. 

“I once again would like to offer not fighting.” He said as she closed the distance. 

“You are kind of in the way here, so unless you are going to give up.” She said as she threw the first punch. “I kind of have to kick your ass.” 

Peter thought he was stronger, but not by a lot as they exchanged a series of blows. The issue was she was faster by a bit more. While he managed to block her attacks, she was flat out dodging him. It also took the first blow to realize that Peter’s spider senses weren’t going off.  

He should have assumed that they wouldn’t work as they never worked with Miles or Jessica, not that he and Jessica Drew every really trained together. But the hooded woman’s extreme speed at dodging his incoming attacks he felt like hers must be working. 

The half-masked spider powered woman stood off to the side watching. Spider-Man kept her just on the edge of his vision. Last thing he wanted to do was turn his back and she attack. That also made it more difficult as the hooded woman dodged his attacks while laying in some of her own that Peter could just block. 

He opened his mouth to speak, but she beat him to the punch. 

“You kind of suck at this.” She spoke as she dodged another punch. He’d be lying if it didn’t hurt his pride.  

“I’m actually pretty good at this.” He said as she danced around his attacks. 

“How much does everyone else suck if you’re good at this?” She asked as she back flipped away from Peter, kicking him in the face as she did. His head snapped back before grabbing his chin and glaring at his opponent through his mask. 

“Your spider-sense giving you the edge doesn’t mean you are good.” He said, trying to hide the fact he was feeling embarrassed at how she was making him look like an amatur. She let out a soft chuckle. 

“Not using spider-sense, which cool we refer to it the same thing.” The hooded woman said. “You just telegraph your moves.” 

“I don’t telegraph my moves.” He said, sprinting right at her. She saw his play and decided to do the same thing. They sprinted at one another, neither looking to lose this game of chicken.  

He knew that if he could grab her, his superior strength would be able to keep her down. She might be faster, but he thought power might do the trick. Right as they were about to collide, she dropped. He was too far along to stop his momentum as she dropped, only stopping once she was on the ground. 

He came to a dead stop. 

The hooded figure slid right between Peter’s legs. It was a move he had done to plenty of villains for a variety of effects. Being on the other end meant he made the classic mistake of following her with his gaze, meaning he was left bent at a ninety-degree angle as the mystery woman was standing behind him.  

If he didn’t realize foolish enough, the mystery woman reached into the back of his Spider-Man suit pants, finding a white waistband right below the surface. He went from ninety degrees to standing straight up. It didn’t matter as she was already pulling. 

Peter’s eyes bugged out from inside his mask as he felt the white cotton of his undies yanked to his shoulder blades with spider powered strength. He let out a small “eeeep” as his foe held him up by his underpants. His hands went to his crotch to try and put pressure on the extreme discomfort as he was cut in half by cotton. 

“Oh, my god.” The other spider powered woman on the sidelines said laughing as Spider-Man, who had saved New York countless times and even helped save the world on more than one occasion, was given a wedgie like a total loser. The force of the yank on his briefs made his hands instinctually go to his crotch to put pressure on some o the pain points. 

“Tighty whities, dude? Really?” The hooded woman asked mockingly as Peter was on his tippy toes. He was familiar with getting wedgies, like all nerds were in school but he was Spider-Man now. That made it all the more embarrassing as the two women were having a field day with this. 

He quickly shook off the shock of being given a wedgie and knew it was time to play some defense. His hands left his crotch to free up his arms for a back elbow as he tried to get her to dislodge her grip from his waistband. He threw the elbow with even more force than he originally intended. 

The hooded figure summersaulted away as Peter threw a backfist. She thankfully released his underpants as she did. He spun to keep her in front of him, which left his back exposed to the dark-haired woman. Which meant that he didn’t havelong to experience the joys of not having someone yank on your undies. 

“I want to get in on this.” He heard the other woman just in time to feel another yank on his white briefs. While he was on his tippy toes again, he heard both women laughing at him. It wasn’t unusual for Peter Parker to be laughed at, but Spider-Man. No one laughed at Spider-Man, not even at his jokes.  

The black-haired woman leaned back to lift him slightly off the ground before throwing him forward. Peter stumbled a few steps, turning to keep both his attackers in front of him. He had been worried about further attacks, but the pair were too busy laughing at what had happened. 

Peter took this time to adjust himself. 

“What the hell? Was bullying also a side effects of getting spider powers?” He asked as he plucked the white material from his backside.  

“It was her idea and it worked.” The hooded one said laughing pointing to her ally. 

“I mean I did it before, but I wouldn’t say it was my idea.” The other responded. Both of them were having a great time as Peter had mostly finished adjusting his underwear, though they were still slightly bunched up above his pants. 

“You two hard your fun now why don’t you gi-.” Peter was saying when a webline from the hooded woman hit him in the chest. He looked down for a moment, surprised before he was yanked off his feet forward into a fist.  

He was knocked back caught off guard by the whole situation. Spider-Man tripped over his own feet and landed hard on his butt. He shook the mental cobwebs from his head, looking up just in time to see the door to the stairwell close as both women had raced after Miles and Pepper. 

“Crap.” Was all he said as he got to his feet to give chase.  

A few floors up, Miles wasn’t having the best time with Pepper. The CEO was still in fear and shock, which wasn’t much help on finding an exit. They were on a cafeteria floor, moving through the large room with a multitude of tables for every employee in the building to have lunch at the same time. 

The new Spider-Man saw a way out. Across the massive room was a door that led to the balcony for a small cafe. Once outside, he could grab onto Pepper and he could swing her anywhere in the city.  

Not that he was sure where to head, but putting distance between her and the two women chasing them was good enough. 

“Come on, I can get you out of here.” Miles said to Pepper as they headed for the balcony cafe. Pepper just nodded her head, and they rushed for the balcony door. They were halfway there when the other spider-powered people arrived. 

Miles and Pepper skidded to a stop as the dark-haired woman sling shot over them with webbing and landed in front of the pair. While he was new, the newest Spider-Man put himself between her and Pepper. They faced off for a moment before he tried the non-violent approach.  

“I don’t want to fight you.” Miles said, trying to sound intimidating. It clearly didn’t work on the hooded Spider-person. 

“Good cause I didn’t plan on fighting you.” She spoke. 

Before Miles could react, his slightly oversized costume pants were yanked down by the hooded woman’s partner. She had snuck up behind them with speed and stealth landing behind him. 

Miles tried to cover his black boxers with white stars on them before attempting to pull up his suit’s pants. Pepper put her hand over her face, not sure to be embarrassed for him, laugh at him or worried about what is going to happen next. 

As Miles bent over, the hooded woman lashed out with a kick right to his butt. The ill-experienced superhero went flying face first, landing hard on his chest as he rolled onto his back and pulled up his pants before getting to his feet.  

“This one might be easier than the other one.” The dark-haired mystery woman said jumping to land another kick at Miles. While he was still new to all this, he and Peter had practiced a lot. 

He dodged the kick and shot webbing at the woman, catching her in the head. She landed on her butt, grabbing at the webbing covering her face. The hooded woman was stunned as the Spider-Man she had been told was the original hadn’t been that threatening. With her friend down, she moved to attack Miles. Unlike with Peter, she fought a bit more disciplined. 

Miles was on the backstep immediately. The hooded woman began firing off her own web blasts that he dodged as best he could. Slowly, he was forced back towards the tables of the cafeteria.  

Pepper used the opportunity to run towards the balcony cafe. The hooded woman fired a shot that managed to snag Miles ankle, pinning him to a table for a moment. The dark-haired woman managed to get the webbing on her face as Pepper ran past. 

“Stop her.” The hooded one said. The other fired off her own webline and propelled herself, still on the ground, towards the doors Pepper was running towards. 

“No, you don’t.” Peter said swinging in and landing in front of the dark-haired woman as she got to her feet. The hooded woman fired her own webline to land next to her friend as Peter went on the attack, forcing the pair back from Pepper. The CEO managed to open the door and get outside. 

“Seriously, dude? You want to go again?” The hooded spider powered woman asked, dodging Peter’s punches as she did. 

“Two on one again.” The dark-haired woman said as she jumped to get in the mix. 

“Two on two.” Miles said as he webbed her arm and dragged her away from Peter mid jump. He managed to get his foot unstuck and pulled her towards him. That left Peter and the hooded woman. 

Pepper had made it to the railing and looked down. There wasn’t any way down from this far up, but going back wasn’t an option as four spider powered people were in the middle of a brawl.  

Spider-Man thought he had the situation handled until the woman delivered a kick to his midsection that sent him flying through the glass balcony doors, shattering them as he landed on the stone floor of the cafe.  

Pepper screamed as Peter rolled to his feet. 

The hooded woman walked out while Miles and the dark-haired one did battle in the background. 

“You know we don’t have to do this. We can start a dialogue and maybe work on why you are trying to kidnap a CEO.” Peter said. She tilted her head at him. 

“If you just let me borrow, not kidnap, the CEO there won’t be a need to talk.”  

She was on a mission and wouldn’t be denied. But neither would Peter. They moved with lighting quick reflexes, both zeroing in on who won this round would get the prize of one Pepper Potts.  

Spider-Man thought he had it, but she was faster and delivered a spinning kick that knocked Peter off his feet. The problem wasn’t that Peter was knocked off his feet. The problem was he was knocked back into Pepper. 

The CEO had no time to avoid the glancing hit by Spider-Man. The railing was slightly above waist level, but the impact sent her tumbling over. Pepper Potts had just been knocked off the building and was falling to the street below. 

Peter knew he had messed up before he hit the ground. He managed to land on the palm of his hand and without a moment’s hesitation he threw himself over the railing to chase Pepper. 

The hooded woman stood there, her mask hiding her reaction. Miles ran past her, seeing what had happened. The dark-haired woman also stopped fighting. 

He stopped at the railing, realizing he had just left his back exposed to two women who had been attacking them. He turned quick to see both women had disappeared. Miles looked over the railing and held his breath hoping Peter would save the day. 

Peter knew he had to slow Pepper’s decent. He could catch up with her but slowing her would help immensely. A webline would do it and he knew the center of the body was the best place to do it. Years of practice meant Spider-Man didn’t miss when falling at extreme speeds. 

His webbing hit her center mass on her stomach. 

Peter used his strength to pull himself towards the falling Pepper. He got maybe a fraction closer as they fell before the CEO’s dress ripped. The black dress ripped completely off the falling woman coming back to Peter’s hand.  

Pepper seemed to scream louder as they only had seconds before impact. Spider-Man adjusted his body to fly down faster. He managed to catch up to her, wrapping an arm around her waist just in time to fire a line of webbing out to slow them both down. They landed on the sidewalk, Pepper screaming till her feet hit the ground. 

Peter couldn’t tell if she timed it or if her voice gave out. He let go of her and Pepper took a few steps away from him, slightly disoriented. The redheaded CEO stood there in her beige designer bra with lace accents and beige lace boyshorts, taking a moment to catch her breath as people on the street stopped and stared at Spider-Man and the almost naked woman. 

She looked around quickly, mortified before her eyes turned back to Peter. It wasn’t a look but a glare. 

“Get me out of here.” She said through her teeth as he quickly grabbed her by the waist and fired off a webline. Soon they were swinging through the city again. She only screamed directions at him towards her penthouse. 

Peter landed on the balcony of the expensive penthouse, and Pepper hunched over like she might hurl. He took a few steps back, but the CEO didn’t throw up. 

“Uh, here.” He said holding out her ripped dress. She snapped it from his hands, fishing out her phone from a secret pocket and marching towards the doors. She hit a few buttons on her phone and they swung open. 

Peter stood there for a moment as the doors slammed shut. He got a text update from Miles saying the other two had disappeared. Peter responded he got Pepper home, and he’d talk to Miles later. He looked up and the closed door again with a pit of dread in his stomach.  

“I am never going to hear the end of this.” 

The next afternoon, Peter was walking down the sidewalk towards Jen Walter’s lawyer office. He was dressed just as himself. Jeans and a T-shirt with some math humor on it. His phone was in his hand for a moment, typing out a message to Miles about their plans for patrol tonight before putting it back to his ear to finish his conversation. 

He was on the phone with MJ, who was at work. Peter walked into the lobby of Jen’s building. 

“Yeah, I’m not getting another shot at that interview.” Mary Jane said with a sigh as Peter had finished telling her how it ended with him dropping Pepper off at her penthouse in just her underwear thanks to his webbing mishap. He had told her everything, including the wedgies from the mystery Spider-Women. He was surprised that MJ hadn’t laughed at that, only a slight acknowledgement not realizing she had had her own experience.  

“Yeah, I’m waiting for Tony to call me up screaming.” Peter said as he had been browsing the news and while the fight didn’t get out, Pepper being saved in just her undies was. Thankfully most of the photos were from videos which made it difficult to see who was saved, though a few outlets speculated it was Pepper. 

“Hopefully he waits to calm down. I mean you did save her life.” MJ offered to try to help lift his mood. 

“Yeah, and embarrassed her in front of the city.” 

“Only two places are reporting it was her and honestly hard to tell from the photos I’ve seen.” 

“Still.” 

“It’ll be all right. Honestly, I think you have bigger issues besides Pepper’s self respect.” MJ said as the bigger issue was the two women with spider abilities.  

“Yeah, I am just heading into the elevator at Jen’s building to see what she thinks.” He said as he pressed the button to go up. 

“Good plan. I have to get back to work. I’ll talk to you later.”  

“Bye.” Peter said, hanging up the phone.  

Jen had actually reached out to him after seeing the news. He had let her know Tony called him about something, and she wanted to be kept posted. He hadn’t reached out that night because Miles had called him to come quick and while Jen was strong, it was hard for her to get across town on foot.  

Jen waved him into her office; exchanged a few pleasantries before Peter got into the events of the night before. 

“Hold on, they did what to you?” Jen asked, grinning as she had heard what Peter said but wanted him to repeat it. 

Peter sighed as Jen was going to have a field day with this. 

“I said they gave me a wedgie.” Peter said. He could feel his face turning slightly red and without his mask it was obvious it was embarrassing. Jen laughed to add to his embarrassment. 

“That is funny.” She said as it was easy to picture Peter getting bullied by the two masked women. 

“Yeah, hilarious.” Peter said dryly. 

“Oh, don’t get your undies in a bunch.” She-Hulk said with almost a straight face. Peter let out a frustrated sigh as his friend poked her fun. She could tell it was time to move past that and offer some den motherly advice. How Jen ended up in this situation was beyond her, but street level heroes looked up to her and while Peter had been Spidey for a while, even he needed a few kind words every once in a while. 

“Hey, we all have our embarrassing moments out there. You’ve had plenty before this. One wedgie won’t change that.” Jen said she was trying to offer encouragement. 

“It was more than one.” Peter grumbled. Jen chuckled but didn’t add insult to injury. Peter just shook his head as he knew he’d be running into that pair again. But what was more worrying than that was who they were and where did they come from. 

Across the city in an abandoned buildings two women met without their costumes on. 

“It is just going to be a lot harder now, Cindy.” The blonde-haired woman said sitting on a crate in the abandoned building. She wore just jeans, a tank top and a flannel with a pair of black combat boots. Her blonde hair was cut short, and the sides were buzzed giving her a manic pixie dream girl vibe that melted most men’s knees. 

“And everything with that Spider-Man guy.” She said, thinking of how he jumped over the railing to save the CEO of Stark Industries. Not at all the kind of guy she thought after listening to that J.J guy Cindy said was the most trusted source for info on Spider-Man. 

The other woman was dressed more conservatively. Her hair was tied back into a tight bun; she wore a pastel pink t-shirt and a knee length blue skirt with matching flats. Her backpack was on the ground at her feet as she had just come from class. 

She could see her friend was down, but she wasn’t going to let her give up. 

“I promised you I’d help, if you taught me how to handle my abilities and you did. The best teacher at anything I’ve ever had.” She said, kneeling, putting her hands on top of her ally’s. 

“We are going to do this. Whatever you need Gwen, I am here for you.” 

The blonde looked up and smiled. It wasn’t over by a long shot.