something bad is bout to happen to me
i don't know what but I feel it coming

might be so sad
might leave my nose running

dark red
steve lacy

FANART

Wonderful artwork by JPRrogue :)

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"Then, the weirdo tried to pull one of those moves Liu Kang does in the games and practically took himself down when he tripped on his own feet!" You cried out, the snort from coming from Ned encouraging your laughter.

The sun had set a few minutes ago, the sky dimming. You eventually found yourselves sat around the unbuilt millennium falcon, slowly building it up at a snails pace. You thought by now you'd at least have the base built, but someone (Ned) decided to ask about your funniest take-downs with a little demonstration for your current telling. 

At the long wheeze squeezing his lungs, you threw yourself into Peter, the silent laughter coming from you watering your eyes.

A long wheeze squeezes Ned's lungs, making your eyes water as Peter subconsciously leans towards you, lightly hitting you as a coughing fit ensues.

"Ned—" You cried out, wiping your tears away as you begged him to take a breath.

"I cant." Ned coughed out. At this point, you should be worried if he was breathing correctly or not, but when he coughed he looked like that one cat you'd see occasionally on the internet, and that made you lose your mind.

"I can't." Ned coughs out. And you know you should be worried if he was breathing correctly or not, but you can't help but to think he looks like that photoshopped cat coughing like a toddler you occasionally see on the internet.

The buzz coming from the back of you pocket momentarily pulled you from the chaos, reaching for the device as you tried to console Ned out of his coughing fit.

"MJ is on her way!" You gleed, standing on your knees as you typed a quick response before turning to the still struggling Ned (who did well to make that known with a look). "I'll get you some water, I'm gonna call her to see if she can bring some more snacks." You shrugged, leaving the room without another word.

"MJ's on her way!" You gleed, sitting up on your knees as you type a quick response, momentarily forgetting about the still struggling Ned. "I'm gonna call her to see if she can bring some more snacks." You say as you stand up, the coughing suddenly stopping.

You look back, seeing a narrowed, judgmental look on Ned's face that said. "Oh. I'll bring back some water." The coughing continues as you left the room.

Skipping into the kitchen, you shouldered your phone as you pulled a cup from the cabinet, listening to it ring as you waited for the girl of the hour to pick up.

By the time you filled the cup with some ice and water, the call went to voicemail, followed by a text message from MJ.

You snort at her sudden indifference, amused on how just not too long ago the two of you were calling. God forbade if it was anyone but herself initiating the calling, but in some ways you can understand—especially now if she's out in the city.

You pause, catching a glimpse of the glass you had sat down next to you, the water dancing as if you accidentally bumped into it. But you were certain you hadn't?

Picking up the glass of water from the counter, your brows furrow at the undisturbed ring of condensation. Odd.

You pocket your phone, making your way back to Peter's room, snacks no longer on your mind as you passed the glass to Ned. "You okay?" Peter asks as you sat, reaching over to rub away the tension in between your brows.

"Yeah. I'm just . . . confused." You mumbled, shrugging it off as you realigned your focus on the legs sat before you.

Not even a minute later did a rumble come from underneath you, shaking you out of place that was enough to get you to tumble on your hands. You looked up to the boys with panic, mouth parted with a warning.

"What the hell was that?!" Ned shouts.

"An earthquake?" Peter had hoped, but even he knew the slightest chance of it being one of those was zero to none.

Fisting the boy's shirts, you yanked them across the room as a stronger tremor tussles the room, Peter's heavily outdated computer falling over in their original spot. "Holy shit."

You fight against the continuous tremor to stay on your feet, tugging the boys into a corner as you watched some of Peter's smaller belongings fall over.  Then suddenly—

Your bag. Where's your bag?!

Frantically scanning the small room, it didn't take long to locate the duffle peeking out from underneath Peter's bunk bed, running out from the corner to get to it. And just as you grabbed it from underneath the bed, the tremors stopped.

You huff in annoyance, kicking the duffle bag back in its place. False alarm. "You two okay?" You question them, both a little shocked as they nodded their heads in answer. With a motion of your hand, you asked them to stay put in case another tremor decides to present itself, stepping over the mess to get to the window.

Everyone out on the streets looked just as confused as you were, the car alarms blaring as the pedestrians try to recollect themselves. Everything seemed fine (you shouldn't have said that).

You banged your head on the window in frustration, feeling your body shiver in opposition as goosebumps formed all over. With a curse under your breath, you turned to your friends with a remorse. "I gotta go." You say, falling to your knees to raid your duffel bag.

"What?" Peter and Ned say over each other. You felt guilty as the suit peeked out from underneath your spare clothes, and you felt even more guilty for being right to bring it along. Why did you have to be right?

Pulling the suit free, your heart clenched under the sullen look Peter gave at the sight of it. "I'm sorry." You almost said. You swallow the lump in your throat. "Something isn't right and I need to—"

"I know." He mumbled. With a breath, he pulls himself up as he nods understandably. "I know." He repeats, this time with reassurance. For himself, or you? He wouldn't know.

"I know." He sighs, frustrated. It's never, and will never be, at you. He's frustrated that it's you who was given such a heavy responsibility that will forever remain for as long as you live. With a deep breath, he nods in understanding. "I know." Peter repeats, this time assuring you that it's okay.

Biting the inside of your cheek, you look down at the suit in your hands, face flushing as you turned to the boys. "Can you guys . . . ?"

Their eyes widen in realization, throwing out apologies as they turn around and cover their eyes. You didn't have time to be embarrassed as you shed your clothes, quickly pulling the suit on in record timing.

Pressing the insignia on your chest, the suit adjusts itself around your figure within a blink of an eye. Safely dressed, you let the boys know it was okay to turn around. "I'll be back as fast as I can, okay?"

Ned bounces in place at the sight of you in your suit, trying to keep his excitement at bay as you pulled your mask on, completing the look. He knew his other best friend isn't much as a fan as he was—understandably so—but he couldn't help to voice it a little when you slipped through the window, sticking to the side of the apartment complex. "Awesome."

"Stay here and don't move!" You ducked out of sight, your head peaking over the window once more. "And if MJ makes it over here, make sure she doesn't leave either." You whisper-shout, well aware there might be people around to see you crawling out of your best friend's window.

You hadn't stuck around long enough to hear them agree, but you trusted they would heed to your warnings as you swung through the city, head on a swivel as you looked for the danger your senses warned you about.

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Swinging through the city used to be therapeutic, a breath of fresh air from your tasteless routine. But now? Now it's just a part-time job you wished you didn't have, but showed up everyday because you need the money to make a living.

You know you shouldn't be upset, considering this is the life you chose for yourself. Especially when you fought so hard for it when you acted against Tony Stark's wishes and went after the Vulture last year. You're just so sour for being right that tonight was too good to be true.

For once, you thought the universe was on your side. Guess not.

Groaning out in frustration, you swung yourself on top of a random building, a bookstore, and observed the city. Nothing looked damaged, nor out of place. If the people of Queens didn't look so startled, you wouldn't have guessed there was something wrong.

"Hello? Anyone around? I need help!"

You stood from your squat, looking around to locate where their voice is coming from. "Dawn?" You questioned, setting out in a random direction.

"Found her. Two blocks, on your right. She has a minor injury."

Twisting around, you ignored the aw's of wonder from below as you sliced through the air, the woman's voice getting louder and louder as you grew closer.

"I just need help getting to the—Oh!" The woman stared up at you with shock as you stepped under the pole's light she sat under, mouth agape as you leveled with her in a squat. "Spider-Woman, I didn't think you'd. . . never mind that.

I fell on my ankle when the earthquake hit and my partner's waiting for me at the substation. I also broke my phone in the process and I'm worried that they're worried about me, so if you can—and I feel awfully terrible asking you to help with something so small but—" she runs out of breath before she could finish her question, a small chuckle escaping you as you waved her off.

"No biggie, I can take you to meet them. Although, I think they'd appreciate it if you weren't blue so. . . take a breath." You smiled, your suit's eyes squinting along with the gesture.

She finally took that much needed breath, giving you a thankful smile as you offered a hand. "What's your name?" You ask, hoping to distract her from the pain shooting through her ankle as she stands.

"Naomi! My name's Naomi." She exclaims, albeit a little too excited than she wanted, but hey! When will there ever be a next time where she'd run into a cool superhero like you?

You nodded, squeezing her hand as a greeting. "Nice to meet you Naomi. Will it be okay if I . . . ?" Your voice trailed, gesturing your arm around her waist.

"Oh, of course!" She exclaims, a little nervous to be taking flight without proper means of restraints. "But, uh, I gotta warn you. I'm deathly afraid of heights. It keeps my partner from enjoying rollercoasters." She chuckled nervously, immediately latching onto you as you pulled her closer to your frame.

You giggled at her ramblings, your heart oozing with fondness at the need for her to mention her partner. "I'll try my best to stay as close to the ground as I can." You say, getting a good grip on her before shooting a web out in front of you. "Hold on tight!"

The grip she had on you was deathly, practically squeezing the air out of you as you took flight. She had quite the pair of pipes on her, too. But she seemed to calm down after a few swings, but just going by her grip she was still terrified out of her mind. Poor gal.

Soon enough, the substation came into view, not a soul in sight; not a lot of people tend to take the late train out of town. Landing at the bottom of the stairs, you allow her time to ground herself as you placed her down, the immediate contact with the ground relaxing her.

"That. . . That wasn't so bad." Naomi says, out of breath as she gives you a sheepish grin.

You follow her further into the station with an arm to  keep her steady, noticing there was only one person around. They seemed panicked, walking back and forth with their phone clenched in their hand. That had to be Naomi's partner.

Before you could make both of your presence's known, Naomi calls out their nice, the very sound of her voice soothing their worries. "Naomi!" They exclaim, running (also limping) into each other's embrace.

You watched with a pout as Robin tenderly held Naomi's face in their hands, wondering when you'd be free enough to have a relationship of your own.

You hoped it would be just as gentle as theirs, so easy and willing to grow. But with how things are going, you'd be lucky enough to have the slightest bit of interest in your life. For now, all you could do was fantasize what I'd be like to be held like so, your mind dipping into a fantasy that evolved around a certain brown-haired boy.

You clear your throat, trying to discreetly fan your face as the couple turned to you for one last thank you. "Thank you, Spider-Woman! Queens is truly lucky to have someone like you around." Robin glees, holding their partner close.

"Glad to be around." You awkwardly responded, mentally kicking yourself for thinking of him at such a time like this one.

You happily waved as they boarded the last train of the night, the enthusiasm in the way dying as your eyes locked on their intertwined hands; mind going back to where it wants to be despite your self-lecture.

[You were thinking of him again.]

You scoffed, turning away as the train took off, arms crossed as you answered, "Was not." Although lying to one of the smartest AI's in the world isn't ideal, you could care less. You aren't about to make your feelings known, even if you do adore Dawn.

[Right.]

Huffing in embarrassment, you remember the original reason you came out today. You were to leave the substation and look for whatever had made your senses go off, when it seemed it had found you first.

You gasp, bracing yourself against a pillar, hand slamming against the structure as your head throbbed. The feedback was far too much for you to handle, startling you into overstimulation as you tried to make sense of the subliminals.

[Y/n?]

Clenching your eyes shut, you straightened out as you frantically looked around you, half-expecting for someone, or something, to attack you where you stood. "Scan the station, Dawn." You waited with prickling nerves, anxious to locate the source that has your senses going hey-wire. Did you even want to find out?

[Unauthorized personnel detected underground.]

Your eyes zero in on the empty tunnels and even emptier darkness, your throat tightening as you approached the tracks. "Let's get this over with." You mumble, jumping down the stations platform and steering trek down its tracks.

originally published on 11/25/21
edited on 1/23/25