[Third Person pov]
Felicia cradled Peter's cheek in her palm, cupping his perfectly sculpted face as though it were some priceless treasure she alone had discovered. She showered him with kisses—loud, exaggerated smooches that echoed playfully through the air—each one leaving a new lipstick stain across his face. In seconds she was marking him, practically painting him with her signature shade as though creating her own personal masterpiece.
"Just so you know," she murmured between kisses, her voice dropping into that silky, mischievous purr he knew far too well, "even if I might be sharing you, I can also get very possessive. And now, with this"—she gestured proudly to her handiwork—"any other bitch that looks at you will know exactly who you belong to."
Peter straightened his posture, lifted his chin, and nodded as if receiving a knight's sacred blessing. "I'll wear these markings with great honor," he declared in the booming intensity of a noble warrior, smoldering dramatically as he gazed off toward some heroic imaginary horizon.
Felicia snorted, rolling her eyes . "You absolute dork," she said, though her smile was soft, tender, glowing at the edges. She grabbed his chin with two fingers and tugged him closer. "Come here. I need evidence."
She lifted her phone between them and angled his face toward the lens. The flash fired—Peter flinched, one eye squeezed shut in the exact second of the shot—but instead of ruining the picture, it somehow made him even more annoyingly, outrageously charming.
Felicia stared at the photo for half a second before groaning. "Okay, that's just unfair, you photogenic bastard." She took his chin again, gently rotating his face like an appraiser with an artifact. "Quick question: have you ever considered modeling? Because you've got a killer face. No question—you'd rise straight to the top."
Peter nodded after a moment of contemplation. "I did consider it when I was younger as a fast way to make money. But there was no need—since, apart from being blessed with divine beauty, I was also blessed with divine wisdom."
Felicia snorted in amusement and jokingly added. "Add divine narcissism to the mix too—"
But she never finished the sentence.
Both she and Peter froze, eyes shrinking into razor-sharp pinpoints as the shared jolt of danger cut down their spines. Their Spider-Senses flared—bright, sharp, unmistakable—moments before the wind around them began to lift, swirl, and then howl.
It wasn't just wind. Sand lifted in sheets, whipping through the air in violent stinging currents. Felicia and Peter raised their arms to shield their faces as dunes practically exploded around them, the carnival lights becoming vague, flickering blurs through the sudden haze. The wind accelerated into a miniature sandstorm, tearing through tents and stands, sending people running—shouting, screaming—as rides groaned under the force.
"ARGHHHHHHHHHH!!"
The scream thundered across the beach. Both Peter and Felicia turned toward the shoreline just in time to see the sand rise, swirl, and congeal—gathering into an enormous humanoid shape. The titan-sized figure continued growing until it towered over the pier, dwarfing even the Ferris wheel and roller coaster.
"MARTIN! YOU BASTARD! I KNOW YOU'RE OUT THERE!!" the mountainous sand creature bellowed, its voice shaking the boardwalk.
Peter released the world-weary sigh of a man who has lived entirely too many Mondays. "The life of a superhero…"
Felicia giggled, brushing hair out of her eyes as she hopped down and grabbed his hands. "Come on! Let's go!" She tugged him forward, weaving them through panicked crowds fleeing the storm.
They darted into a nearby photo booth—light flashed inside—and in the blink of an eye, they were gone.
Outside, the Sandman raised a massive sphere of compressed sand overhead, then hurled it with enough force to rattle the shoreline. The sand-bomb struck the nearby cruise ship dead on, rocking it violently and flipping it onto its side. Its lights flickered wildly as terrified passengers clung to whatever they could.
"Whoop-Whoop!!" Spider-Man cheered as he burst into action, webs shooting out as he swung between the carnival rides. Around him, the rest of the team arrived—each in their element, each already moving.
Spider-Kat, Ghost-Spider, and Scarlet-Spider swung in perfect sync, their movements smooth and practiced. Aria and Firestar soared above them, streaks of light trailing in their wake. Nightwing bounded from booth to booth, flipping with effortless precision as he sped across the carnival structure.
"It's time to delegate!" Peter shouted as he swung past a collapsing booth, "Ghost! Red! You two are in charge of the cruise ship! Nightwing! Arachnid! Get everyone out of the carnival and move them toward safety—start with the Ferris wheel and the Rollercoaster, they're the most critical. Kat! Star! You're with me—follow my lead!"
The moment his orders left his mouth, the team split like a burst of fireworks—each streaking into their designated directions. Harry and Aria veered toward the pier, flying side-by-side down the boardwalk. Gwen and MJ dove into a swirling portal, vanishing in a quick flash of blue energy.
Peter fired a webline at the railing ahead and used it as a springboard, catapulting himself high into the air. The wind tore through his suit as he spread his arms wide.
"Marko!!" he shouted with theatrical joy. "I haven't seen you since you faked your death! How's it been, buddy!?"
"Spider-Man?!" Sandman thundered, forming an enormous face out of the storm. "I'm not in the mood!"
A colossal sand-hand swung at Peter like a wrecking ball. But Spider-Man slipped between the fingers with effortless grace, webbing and parkouring around the shifting knuckles.
"How could you say that?!" Peter cried dramatically. "I mourned for you! I even wrote a poem!"
Lizzy streaked into the chaos, leaving a searing trail of orange behind her. Heat radiated off her in waves as she unleashed a torrent of fire straight into Marko's chest. The sand ignited with a blinding flash—melting, crystallizing into jagged panes of glass.
Sandman roared, and in retaliation his other arm surged outward, stretching like a tidal wave to smother her flames. The mountain of sand swallowed her up.
Peter swung along the giant's arm, racing toward the epicenter of the battlefield. Felicia swooped in beside him, her movement sharp, precise, panther-like. Without missing a beat, he grabbed her hands and hurled her forward at high velocity.
The air rippled around her as she tucked, twisted, then shot her heel straight into Marko's crystallized chest. The impact cracked the glass like thunder. Her momentum carried her straight through his torso, tearing a massive hole that blew his towering form backward. Sandman toppled into the parking lot, crushing cars beneath him as civilians fled in panic.
A tsunami of sand surged forward, swallowing storefronts, slamming into vehicles, flipping them like toys. Then Marko inhaled sharply—pulling the sand back into his shape, reforming himself from the ground up.
Lizzy erupted from the sandbank with a sputtering cough, shaking her head violently. "Pht—phtt—Yuck! I got sand in my mouth—PHTT—blegh!" She stuck out her tongue with exaggerated disgust. "Nope. Hate it. Zero out of ten."
"I won't let you stop me, Spider-Man!!" Sandman bellowed as he reassembled, his rage fueling the intensifying storm. Visibility dropped to nearly nothing as he launched catapults of compacted sand from his palms.
"Don't you dare try to change the subject on me!!" Peter yelled back, springing from sand to sand as if leaping across floating platforms. Bolts of bio-electricity crackled from his palms as he shattered incoming projectiles. "What you did almost traumatized me! I practically considered therapy, Marko!"
"I'll SHOW you traumatized!" Sandman roared, his arms stretching into two massive battering rams.
Before the attack could land, Felicia traced a circle through the air. A portal snapped open in front of Marko's fists—its twin appearing right beside his face.
His own blow rocketed through the exit portal.
WHAM.
He punched himself directly in the head, exploding the top half of his body into a storm of disintegrated sand.
"Aww, come on, big guy," Peter said as he somersaulted through the air, placing a hand dramatically over his chest. "Don't beat yourself up. Look—fine. I'll be the bigger man. I forgive you."
Felicia snorted, nearly losing her footing midair, while Lizzy broke into a fit of muffled giggles through her still-sandy tongue. Both rolled their eyes but couldn't hide the amusement.
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