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*****
Inside the secret base of the Titan Squad—an apartment provided by Gwen—the team sat in a circle. On the floor before them lay a single, small pill, and their expressions were grim.
The pill was a transparent capsule. Inside, a swirling mass of golden nebula-like mist shifted and turned, constantly changing shape. It was strangely beautiful.
"This is it? One pill and a normal person gets superpowers?" Luke asked, his voice filled with disbelief.
"That's the one," Harry replied solemnly. "These pills started circulating among New York's gangs recently. They've already sparked several riots and waves of violence."
"It's a predictable outcome," Gwen added calmly. "Taking this pill gives someone a brief burst of superhuman ability. It drastically lowers the cost of obtaining power. Once these people feel that strength, that sense of invincibility, they immediately use that short window of time to do things they'd normally never dare. It's no wonder it's causing chaos."
"But the danger is extreme," Harry interjected. "If the pill fails to activate a latent superpower, the result is death. We've already seen reports of several deaths where the users simply collapsed after taking it."
As he spoke, he turned his gaze toward Mary Jane, his tone hardening. "Don't you even think about trying this out of curiosity."
A warmth spread through MJ's chest. Was Harry actually worried about her? She nodded quickly. "I won't try it, I..." I haven't even confessed to you yet, she added silently in her mind.
"It's not just about 'not trying it easily'—it's a hard 'no,'" Gwen said, looking directly at MJ. "We don't want anything happening to you. We can't afford to lose a good friend."
MJ had expressed her longing for powers and her envy of the others before, and Gwen knew it.
"I get it, I get it!" MJ waved them off, rolling her eyes at the serious faces staring her down. "You're all looking at me like I'm about to swallow the thing right now!" She raised her hand, offering a solemn vow. "Relax, I promise I won't touch it."
The group nodded, turning their focus back to the capsule.
They called it "Power Pill." It had appeared in the New York underworld about two weeks ago. While it hadn't reached the general public yet, the trend suggested that a massive crisis was on the horizon if it wasn't stopped.
"The fact that it hasn't spread on a massive scale yet suggests someone is controlling the supply," Peter mused, offering a hypothesis.
"Likely. Otherwise, with effects this terrifying, it would have spread like wildfire," Gwen agreed.
Luke rubbed his chin. "But why control it? Why not just flood the streets?"
Peter thought for a moment. "Unless... the drug is still in development. The people taking it now aren't just customers—they're lab rats. A massive outbreak would make it impossible to observe the specific effects and data from each user."
A chill ran through the room. It was a horrifyingly plausible theory.
"Well, the 'why' doesn't matter as much as finding the person behind it," MJ said with a small smile.
"Whoa," Gwen blinked, looking at her friend in surprise. "Mary! You really cut straight to the heart of it, didn't you?"
MJ was right. Regardless of the motive or the culprit, the situation needed to be shut down.
MJ tilted her chin up. "Ahem!"
"I guess the whole 'all beauty, no brains' stereotype is officially dead," Gwen joked, her eyes lingering with a hint of envy on MJ's increasingly well-developed figure.
MJ's face flushed red, and she gave Gwen a playful shove. "What are you talking about? 'All beauty, no brains'? That's so mean!"
Gwen let out a mischievous laugh and suddenly reached out to poke MJ, giggling. "It doesn't matter if it's mean as long as you're fun to tease!"
"Gwen!" MJ cried out in mock fury, lunging for her.
The two girls ended up in a heap on the floor, wrestling and laughing. Peter, Harry, and Luke immediately looked away, their faces heating up. If they watched for too long, Gwen would surely make them pay for it later, and they didn't feel like sporting matching black eyes.
Still... the boys couldn't help but steal a quick glance. Well... it is quite a sight.
"Phew!"
Ten seconds later, Gwen and MJ sat back up, breathless and disheveled. They noticed the boys were staring intently at the walls and nodded in approval. At least they have some sense.
"Alright, back to business," Gwen cleared her throat. "Harry, is there any other vital info?"
The boys shook their heads, but Gwen focused on Harry. "Wait, Harry—how exactly did you get this pill?"
Harry's expression soured. "From a street thug. He was mugging a woman, and when I stepped in to stop him, he popped a pill." Harry paused, a look of pure disgust crossing his face. "You have no idea how revolting his power was."
"Tell us! This is the best part," Luke grinned.
"His power... was snot-slinging," Harry said, the memory clearly haunting him. "I'm serious. He could fire mucus from his nose like a high-pressure glue gun. It was thick, sticky, and... ugh!" Harry actually gagged at the recollection.
"Hahahaha!" The room erupted in laughter.
"And then?"
"And then?" Harry wiped his mouth. "After I had to scrap a perfectly good suit because it was covered in slime, his 'dose' ran out. I caught him just as he was reaching for a second pill. I interrogated him, took the spare, and left him tied up in front of the police station."
Scrapping the suit... not because it was broken, but because it was too gross to touch. The others shuddered as they imagined a world of flying snot and looked at Harry with pity.
Harry took a deep breath to clear the mental image. "Anyway, I got one crucial lead out of him."
"What's the lead?" MJ asked, her eyes shining like a devoted fangirl.
Harry smirked, about to deliver the punchline, when Peter spoke up flatly. "I'm guessing you found out where the thug bought the pills."
Harry's face fell. He shot Peter a disgruntled look. "Could you at least let me finish the story?"
Peter shrugged. "It was pretty obvious. No need to build the suspense."
Luke let out another boisterous laugh.
"Stop laughing, you idiots!" Gwen suddenly shouted, her voice sharp. "Harry, you turned that thug over to the police! If the cops interrogated him too, they have the same information!"
The realization hit them like a physical blow.
"The police are in danger," Peter whispered.
If the police tried to raid the dealer's location without knowing about the Power Pills, they would be walking into a slaughterhouse.
Harry's face paled. "We have to move, now!"
"For the past two days, I've been tracking the dealer. I found his operating area. That's why I called you all here today," Harry said urgently. He had intended to do more recon before calling for backup, but he hadn't accounted for the police getting involved.
"Move out!" Gwen barked, nodding to the team.
"I'll monitor the police scanners and look for any activity," MJ said, already moving toward the room's radio equipment. The gear had been modified to pick up police frequencies, allowing her to coordinate with Gwen and the others during their missions.
Harry pulled out a map and pointed to a block near Hell's Kitchen. "He operates here. His schedule is random, but he shows up two or three times a week." He tapped his phone, projecting a photo. "That's him. The dealer. Goes by the name Wollaton."
The man was tall and gaunt, looking like a human bamboo pole who had spent too much time using his own illicit products. He had messy brown hair and dull, clouded eyes. They memorized his features instantly.
"Let's hope the cops haven't found him yet," Gwen said. The four of them quickly donned their respective suits.
"Peter and I are heading out first!" Gwen called to Luke and Harry as she leapt from the window. Peter followed immediately behind.
"We'll beat them there," Luke smirked. He tapped the controller on his forearm, and the Goblin Glider—reconfigured for him—flew into the room.
As Luke stepped onto the board, Harry muttered, "You're way too slow!" He hit his own controller and vaulted out the window. A streak of fire trailed him as his own glider ignited, carrying him into the sky like a rocket.
Luke scoffed. "Show-off."
"It's all yours, MJ!" Luke shouted. MJ waved her hand without looking back, and Luke sped off.
Webs shot from wrist-mounted launchers, sticking to the skyscrapers. A figure swung through the air in a graceful arc, soaring toward the clouds before plummeting again. Another web shot out, and Gwen caught it, her body stretching with feline grace against the backdrop of the moon.
Beside her, Peter mirrored her movements. Guided by MJ's voice in their ears, they carved a path through the cityscape at high speed.
They reached the target location quickly, having dealt with a couple of car thieves along the way.
"Harry, Peter and I are near the destination," Gwen said into her comms, standing atop a high-rise and looking down.
"Luke and I have been here for a minute. We've already done a lap," Harry replied, his tone slightly relieved. "No sign of the target, and no police activity yet."
"That's good news," Gwen exhaled. It meant the dealer hadn't arrived, and the conflict hadn't started.
Just as the tension began to bleed out of the group, a massive explosion rocked the block.
BOOM!
The blast of fire roared like a savage beast, tearing through the surroundings. Nearby buildings cracked under the shockwave, and windows shattered, raining glass down like a deadly storm.
Gwen and the others didn't hesitate; they lunged toward the source of the blast.
Their hearts sank as the sound of rapid gunfire began to echo through the smoke.
Gwen's face turned cold under her mask. She leapt between buildings, using the elasticity of her webs to catapult herself forward. She flipped mid-air and landed on a wall near the center of the explosion, clinging to the brick like a predatory spider as she surveyed the scene.
At the heart of the destruction stood a figure entirely engulfed in flames. Because the man was so thin and tall, he looked like a living, screaming torch.
"Damn it," Gwen hissed, watching the human torch hurl balls of exploding fire in every direction. "Harry! Is that him?"
"I can't see his face through the fire, but he's definitely our problem!" Harry shouted back, observing the battlefield.
"If he's a problem, let's solve him!" Luke growled. He dove straight toward the fiery enemy. "I'll see if I can tank his fire!"
"Be careful!" Peter shouted. He dropped from the air, landing in front of a woman who was about to be crushed. He crossed his arms and fired a massive web net, catching a flying slab of concrete before pulling the woman to safety.
Meanwhile, Harry and Gwen closed in from the flanks.
"These are undercover cops," Peter's voice crackled in their ears. "They were running a sting on the dealer—Wollaton. He must have popped a pill when they moved in."
Peter released the woman he had saved and gave her a quick nod. "Thanks for the info, Officer."
The woman, clutching a gashed arm, nodded back breathlessly. She looked at the human torch in the distance with terror. "Spider-Man, please... you have to stop him! My partners are still in there!"
"That's why we're here," Peter said, pointing a thumb toward the chaos. "And my team is already on it."
The female officer looked over and saw two streaks of light rescuing her colleagues from the fire, while a sleek black-and-white figure lunged directly at the criminal.
Her eyes lit up. "Oh my god... it's Ghost-Spider!"
Peter nodded, feeling a swell of pride at the officer's reaction. Yeah, that's the girl I love. Everyone knows she's the best.
(End of Chapter)