"So he traded in the marriage with the girl of his dreams that he'd been hollerin' for the last however many years for with the devil to bring his old aunt back to life? Like she hadn't lived a full life or somethin'?" Rogue asked as she took a bite out of the cotton candy we were sharing.

"Yeah, I dunno, I think the people writing those comics have shut their brains off for like the last 15 years."

"It's had to have gotten better."

"Nope. Paul."

"What?"

"Paul."

"Who's Paul?"

"The worst."

"Care to elaborate, sugar?"

"No." I said before Rogue laughed. "So what do you think of Coney Island so far?"

"It's somethin' else, I will say that. Better than the town fairs we would have back in Mississippi." She said before she stopped and gasped. "Oh my gosh, (Y,N), look at that cute lil' teddy bear!" She pointed at a brown bear plushie with its tongue sticking out of it by the high striker with a bunch of other miscellaneous prizes.

"STEP RIGHT UP STEP RIGHT UP! COME ONE COME ALL! TEST YOUR STRENGTH AT THE HIGH STRIKER! USE THE STRONGMAN GAME TO SEE HOW STRONG YOUR MAN REALLY IS!" The carny shouted.

"C'mon hon, give it a shot!" Rogue told me.

"Ooooh, I don't know..." I feigned uncertainty.

"Please? For lil' old me?" She asked.

"Wellllll alright. I guess it wouldn't hurt to try." I said walking over.

"Atta boy! Everybody's a winner!" The carny told me. "Just don't split your pants trying to get into hers." He whispered to me as I gave him the 5 dollars to play. I took the hammer and faked not being able to lift it for a second before smashing it into the platform and having the bell ring out. I may or may not have watched a crack form. "WOAH! WHATTA SHOT KID! WE HAVE A WINNER!"

"What can I say? I have a sleeper build. I'll take the goofy looking bear." I said. I gave the bear to Rogue.

"Here you go, Belle." I said.

"What?" She giggled.

"It's French for beautiful. It's the only word I know so far." I told her.

"Oooooh~, très romantique, sugar." She said snuggling up to me. "You know, I never really reckoned you knew how to show a girl a good time like this when I met ya."

"Honestly, me neither. I like this bit of character development, though."

"I do, too." She smiled at me. "So what's next?"

"We still haven't gone on the cyclone~." I told her.

"You're never gettin' me on that wooden death trap, (Y,N)."

"Oh c'mon! No one's died on it in the last 100 years! Or at least I never googled if someone did or not!"

"I'm not gettin' on a wooden coaster made by cheapskates before child labor laws were passed!"

"They probably made it super good, though!"

"You're gonna have to try ///// something else, (L,N)." She said flicking me in the forehead.

"Ow! Fine, how about the wonder wheel, then? You're not afraid of heights are you?"

"Now you're speakin' my language." She said. She held her new bear tightly. "(Y,N) this thing is so freaking adorable! Thank you for gettin' it for me."

"Don't mention it. It was a piece of cake." I said. "Hey, what time is it?"

"It's about 4ish. Why?" She asked. "Oh wait, you said ya had to 'do somethin' at 5, right?"

"Yeah I- why'd you say 'do something' like that?"

"Cuz I know you're just scared of what the Spider-Man has planned." She said before pointing her eyes towards the police that I had just now noticed were starting to swarm Coney Island and then winking at me.

"Me? Scared? You're forgetting who was there when Spider-Man gave his interview."

"Mhm. Remind me what he said he was gonna do again?"

"Well Brant was the one who worded it but she said that he had a King-sized surprised that was going to put a Pin in the lips of New York. Sounds a little too Saturday morning cartoonish for me I don't think he really said that. But I think he has something planned involving the Kingpin and undeniable proof of his secret identity."

"Well I think if he goes through with that hypothetical then he'll have earned some points in the hero category. He really ain't as bad as he tried to make himself out to be."

"I mean I wouldn't go that far. But I think he's trying."

"Yeah, he could work on some things. Like that whole lying problem." Rogue said which made me stop in my tracks. I could feel my body suddenly sweating out of nowhere.

"I uh- what do you mean?"

"Well not really lyin' but forgetting to tell the full truth and keepin' secrets that he shouldn't be keepin'."

"What are you talking about?"

"Nothing. On an unrelated note, when were you gonna tell me that you and Jubilee went on a date?" She asked me. Oh thank god that's what she's talking about. WAIT HOW DID SHE KNOW!?

"Uhhh what're you-"

"(Y,N), I'm not mad. I get it." She told me.

"You're not? You do?"

"(Y,N) I can understand that you didn't exactly have the best time in your life up until... ever. On the times we've touched I've seen some of the things you had to deal with and some of the things that you've had to endure. Relationships ain't your strong suit. Hell, they weren't mine either for a while. I can tell by the way Jubilee gets all nervous when she starts talkin' about you when I'm around that she's gotta crush on you too and I could tell by the way she was all secretive when she came home last night she was out with you. We never made it official or nothin', so it's not like I can get mad at you for figurin' out who you like more before you commit. I like you, (Y,N), and I understand you need a second to figure out if you really like me or if you like... someone else. So I'm willing to give you a second to figure it out. But I'm just giving you a second! You got two weeks to figure it out. If it's not me I won't be mad. I'll be jealous as hell but not mad. And I hope whoever you pass me up for would do the same if the roles were reversed."

"Rogue, I don't know what to say."

"How about 'do you want me to hold your bear while you use the restroom?'" She asked me before nudging at one of the bathrooms close by.

"...Do you want me to-"

"I'm so glad you asked!" She said before handing the bear off to me. She then pulled////// me over and gave me a kiss on the cheek. "I won't be long." She said. She turned to walk away before looking over her shoulder at me. "And no more secrets. Kay, sugar?" She said with a smile before walking away.

"Right... no more secrets... that was the last one..." I said. I //////seriously gotta tell her soon. Suddenly I was pulled back into an alley. I fell on my back and groaned.

"What the fuck is your problem, asshole!?" I asked before I even saw who pulled me. I scratched my back and realized there was webbing on it.

"Whatever it is you're planning, don't do it." Gwen told me. She was wearing a Paramore  hoodie and what looked like pajama pants. Honestly, she kinda looked like shit.

"Make me." I said dusting myself off.

"You do this and Kingpin never stops coming after you."

"He has a bounty on my head! That ship sailed quite a while ago, Gwen. Besides, I already told you: Live fast, die young." I said shooting finger guns at her. I started to walk away when she grabbed my wrist.

"If you do anything, I will stop you. And I will lock you up."

"Nah, I'd win." I said prying my hand of her grip.

"You won't."

"You say that like you caught me before you knew who I was behind the mask. If you weren't trying then you should probably quit tbh."

"I'm not letting you do this-"

"Why the fuck not? What're you on his payroll now? Or can you just not stomach me getting a-"

"To yourself! I'm not letting you do this to yourself! Not anymore!"

"And nothing can stop me now because I don't care anymore. It's from Piggy by Nine Inch Nails. Look it up, we might play it during practice. You'd know that if you showed up." I said finally backing away from her. As I did Rogue came out of the bathroom.

"And where did you scurry off to?" She asked with a playful smile that faded when she saw I was annoyed.

"I had to deal with something. Nothing important." I said still dusting myself off. Every time me and Gwen get into one of those little arguments I feel dirty afterwards. She looked behind me and saw Gwen still standing there and staring at me. She sucked her teeth in irritation and took a step over to her but got stopped by me grabbing her arm. "It's not worth it." I told her.

"If she messes with m- you one more time-"

"She won't. I promise you." I told her. She brushed her hair out of her face and turned back to me. "Hey wait what were you gonna say?"

"Whaddya mean?"

"You started to say another word besides 'you'."

"No I didn't!" She said surprisingly defensively.

"Yuh huh. It sounded like it started with a 'M'."

"Let's just drop it, okay?"

"So you admit you were gonna say something else?"

"I-I..." She was red like a tomato now and avoiding eye contact. "M-Mebbe I uh unint-tentionally almost called y-ya... my man?" She admitted.

"...You are unbelievably adorable." I said. Then I realized something. "Oh crap, I think someone stole your bear while I was talking with her! I didn't even notice I didn't sticky hand it before she pulled me over."

"Yeah, she's definitely gonna get it next time I see her, now." Rogue sneered.

"(Y,N)? HEY, (Y,N)!" I heard someone shout. We looked behind us and sure enough we saw MJ, Harry, and Felicia.

"You know those three?" Rogue asked.

"Wait have you never interacted with them? They go to our school. They know Allie and Jubilee."

"I think I've seen 'em around before but I've never been introduced."

"Well then, let's fix that." I said grabbing her hand and walking over to the rest of the group. "Hey guys! MJ, Felicia, Harry."

"Hey, Tiger! I didn't think this was your kinda scene! Who's this?" MJ asked.

"Friends call me Rogue, so do my enemies." Rogue responded.

"Oh, I like her already. Are there anymore secret friends the school's reject has that nobody knows about?" Felicia asked.

"I think I've seen her around school before actually. Nice to actually meet you!" MJ said.

"Nice ta meet you too."

"God, and I love the southern belle accent too. Where'd you meet this cute girlfriend of yours, (L,N)?" Felicia asked.

"G-girlfriend!? I- w-well, I uh-"

"I met her a month or so ago at an arcade. She's friends with Allie and Jubilee. They're roommates actually." I said interrupting Rogue. "Sorry, let me introduce you guys properly. Rogue, this is Mary Jane-"

"You can call me MJ."

"Harry-"

"Pleasure's all mine."

"And Felicia-"

"Charmed."

"I'm in a band with MJ and Felicia and Harry is our groupie."

"I don't even go to your band practices." Harry said. "Felicia brought up a good point, do you have any other secret friends that we don't know about? Because I could've swore you were an anti social jerk the first day of school."

"Well there is a fifth roommate." I said.

"I can't tell if you're joking or not." Harry responded. I then got a phone call from, speak of the devils, Allie.

"Well you can ask her about it on the phone." I said before picking it up. "Hey, Allie, what's up?"

"You are one step away from having the mustard of a half eaten hotdog on your shoe."

"What?" I looked down and saw that there was indeed a half eaten hotdog////// sitting next to me.

"How did you-"

"SURPRISE ATTACK!" Allie shouted in my ear behind me. I looked back at her and she was laughing.

"Dude, I could've punched you!" I told her.

"But you didn't. You must like me or something."

"You guys didn't tell me you were comin'!" Rogue said. Thats when I realized Allie wasn't alone. Jubilee, Laura, and Kitty were all there, too. Jubilee brought her switch, Laura was staring quizzically at the cotton candy in her hand, and Kitty was pushing them over to us.

"It was a last second decision." Allie said. "Red was texting me about it and I decided to drag along The Misfits over here. Danzig would only come if she got to bring her switch and Doyle Von Frankenstein has never been to an amusement park/fair before."

"Does that make you Jerry Only?" Felicia asked snarkily.

"No duh." Allie said.

"And who's the prep?" Felicia followed up.

"As a Misfits member or like her actual name?"

"Yes."

"I think that makes her Robo by default but her name is-"

"Kitty, right? I've met her in history." MJ said.

"Hey guys! What's happening?" Kitty said. Jubilee looked up from her Switch to see me and we immediately locked eyes. She got a big smile on her face that then vanished when she looked to my right and saw Rogue and it looked like she was now avoiding eye contact.

"Nothing much, we just ran into (Y,N) and Rogue." MJ said.

"Small world, huh?" Allie asked.

"Only if Scarlett and Peter show up in the next two minutes." Harry said.

"Who?" Rogue asked.

"(Y,N)'s friends. He met them at a party a couple months ago I think." Allie explained.

"You never told me you had other friends. I coulda swore I was the second friend you ever made." Rogue said.

"To be fair, he never told me about any of you guys and I thought MJ and I were his only friends until a couple days ago." Harry said.

"Can we stop talking about who I may or may not be friends with? We get it, I don't have people skills."

"Why does it melt when I bite it? It's dust. Why would dust melt?" Laura blurted out.

"Are you talking about the cotton candy?" Harry asked.

"Laura didn't get out much as a kid. This whole thing is very alien to her." Jubilee said.

"So is anything fun." Allie added.

"I'm eating magic dust how is that considered fun?" Laura asked.

"It's more fun than what you usually do on your spare time." Kitty said.

"You don't know what I do on my own time."

"You watch Twilight movies." Jubilee said.

"No I don't! Shut up!" Laura blurted out in defense.

"Keep it moving people! Come on!" We heard a cop shout. "The big wheel is closed for the next hour!"

"Oh, dang it! That's what we were gonna go on next, right, sugar?" Rogue sighed in disappointment.

"Yeah. What gives, why's it shut down?"

"It's probably because of that spider freak." Harry said. "This place has been crawling with cops since that bug made his Saturday morning cartoon threat in that interview you and Brant snagged."

"Now Osbourne, it's not nice to name call is it?" Felicia said before she muttered "you little goblin".

"Why shouldn't I? That guys a total scumbag!"

"I mean, I wouldn't say he's a total scumbag." Allie said looking over at me. "I heard he beats up other criminals more than he fights good guys."

"And he steals from people indiscriminately. Do you know how many people went bankrupt because their money got caught in a web?"

"He steals from banks, not individual people. He's not a mugger." I said trying my best not to sound emotional.

"You think the banks take the hit on that? They pull it out of peoples accounts and say that he took their specific cash from the vaults."

"Well at that point it's the banks stealing from the people, not him!" Jubilee defended me. "That's gotta be super illegal!"

"Almost as illegal as him stealing the money in the first place." Harry said.

"Two wrongs don't make a right." Rogue argued.

"I meeeeeaaaan, he kinda has a point." Kitty said. "I mean, like, if we're being realistic here."

"(Y,N) how can you defend the guy after he roughed you up personally!?"

"As someone who didn't have the best public image, I like to see the good in some people is all."

"And what's good about him?"

"Have you ever met him?" Felicia asked Harry.

"What would that change? Not him. I doubt a guy like that could ever change. He's a piece of trash! A weird mutant freak that uses his power to make himself feel good about himself." There was a sudden shift in the atmosphere when Harry said "mutant". The X-Girls all locked onto Harry like he just activated their sleeper agent password. "MJ, help me out here, I can't be the only one who thinks that dude is dirt."

"Well I mean he is a criminal but that doesn't automatically make you a bad guy, right? Like the Spidergirl is a vigilante and that's illegal. But all she does is fight the nut jobs like Mysterio." MJ explained.

"Ok, that one is a whole different can of worms." Felicia said.

"You have a problem with the one that fights crime?" Harry asked.

"I'm not her biggest fan, no."

"As I was saying," MJ continued. "I feel like it's a matter of his motive, you know? Like maybe he's just trying to support his family?"

"There's better ways to go about it than robbing a Chuck E. Cheese."

"It wasn't a fucking Chuck E. Cheese." I muttered.

"Okay, how about this, no politics at the imaginary dinner table in the middle of Coney Island? Huh, sound good?" MJ asked.

"I'm just saying, my dad said with great power comes great responsibility and this guy uses his powers like a great big asshole." Harry finished his speech.

"Takes one to know one." Jubilee said pulling her shades down.

"So, anyways, Rogue, was it? How did you meet (Y,N) exactly? You guys seem pretty close." MJ asked. Honestly something seemed off about her tone. Kinda like she was... jealous?

"It's kinda a long story." Rogue began to say when my phone vibrated.

Brant 🖕: Need you on standby for that thing we talked about.

Brant 🖕: Now.

[Brant 🖕 has shared her location]

"I gotta go!" I blurted out.

"Already? We didn't even get to hang out." Jubilee said. "I think that's literally the first thing I've said to you since we met up."

"I have to do something for work. I talked with Rogue about it earlier."

"Oh, yeah! He's gotta go. It's really important." Rogue said.

"How important can a photography job be?" Harry asked.

"Yeah shame the middle class worker a little more that's gonna do wonders." I said. "I'll see you guys later!" I called out walking away.

"Go get 'em, sugar!"
"Go get 'em, Tiger!" Rogue and MJ said at the same time. Although an interesting development I couldn't pay attention to it. Instead I was focusing on the feeling in my stomach. I don't know if it was the conglomerate of everyone I've gotten close to in the last month seemingly to all be converged in one place, the cops I really started to notice swarming the place looking for me, or the ominous threat from Gwen. But something felt like tonight was gonna be different. After tonight everything changes.

Tonight's gonna be the end of an era.