3rd Person POV
"Is that Bill Nye?" An older man asked out loud.
Peter just sighed as he examined his costume. "Why does everybody think that?"
"Cause why would somebody dress up like Bruce Banner," Leo answered with a chuckle.
"It's the Grinch!" an old man high-fived Leo. "I'm a mean one," The man sang as he walked away.
Leo smirked. "That's what? The seventh time."
"Wow, seven old guys, you're thriving." MJ smirked
"...why are you like this?"
"Coping mechanism,"
Times Square was packed, music, food, games, it was incredible.
Ned took off his purple jacket as he prepared to bob for apples.
"Nope." Leo pulled him back.
"What the—?"
"Dude, you're wearing face paint." l
"Huh?"
"What happens when paint gets wet?'
"...Oh," A realization come over Ned
"That took you way too long to figure out,"
===
"Who wants to play?" Gwen held up a set of rings.
"I'll give it a try." Harry grabbed a trio of rings.
Gwen threw the first ring, and missed by a mile.
She narrowed her eyes, and undershot the second shot.
"Dang it." She narrowed her eyes, sticking her tongue out as she concentrated.
The ring bounced off a bottle cap, flying to the side.
"You're bad at this,"
Gwen glared. "Like you can do better."
Harry threw a ring, it landed perfectly.
Then another one, perfect as well.
And then a third, three perfect shots in a row.
"...show off," Gwen muttered under her breath.
Harry just rolled his eyes. The booth manager handed him a large bunny plush, which he immediately gave to Gwen.
"I'm not a stuffed animal guy, you can have it."
Gwen just smiled as she hugged the stuffed animal.
===
"Wanna try?" Ned gestured to a boxing arcade game.
Leo smirked, of course he wanted to try it. He has the boxing talents and skill of Yu. A literal world champion, he should probably hold back though.
With a single blow, an audible bang could be heard. The machine lit up as he got third place, decent, but not enough for anybody to question it.
"Wow." Ned stared in amazement. "Since when could you do that?."
"I'm a person of many talents," Leo smirked.
"Alright, my turn." Ned threw a punch…and missed by a mile.
Leo burst into laughter as Ned stumbled.
===
"Can I get a cherry vanilla cone, and—" Peter glanced at MJ.
"Butter pecan," MJ answered.
They both pulled out their wallets, but before MJ could pay. Peter handed the man a ten, enough for the both of them.
"You know I can pay for myself, right?" MJ told him.
"Oh, sorry." Peter apologized, rubbing the back of his head. "I can—"
She cut him off. "Geez, I was joking."
While she enjoyed messing with Leo and Harry, Peter was a different story. He was just too… nice.
The ice cream man handed them their cones, they walked through the streets as they ate.
It's almost been two years since she met Peter, while she would never admit it. He's pretty much her best friend—which sucked, because she knows Ned is his best friend.
"So, how's the Omni thing going? Flappy Birds is pretty popular. Half the people here are using Instagram." Why did she find it so difficult to talk to him?
"It's been pretty good. We don't have to worry about bills anymore. Though, it did take a while for her to accept the money."
MJ smiled. "Sounds like your aunt." She's met her, probably the nicest woman in existence.
Peter stumbled over a bottle, but he was able to catch himself at the last moment.
"You okay?"
"Yeah." Peter wiped his mouth.
He stumbled mid-lick, accidentally smudging ice cream on his face.
"You missed a spot."
"Where?"
She wasn't sure why she did it, but she reached out, wiping the ice cream off his nose. Leaving him speechless.
For a brief moment, they just stared at each other. MJ walked away, leaving a confused Peter
Unaware that Leo and Harry watched the entire thing, their mouths wide open in shock.
===
Leo's POV
Well, I'll be damned. Usually it's Peter crushing on MJ, not the other way around.
"What the hell was that?" Harry asked.
"Isn't it obvious? MJ wants Peter, romantically." …Maybe even sexually?
"Should we warn him?"
"I'm debating."
"Debating?"
" On one hand, I don't want to get involved. On the other hand, Peter needs every bit of help possible."
Harry raised a brow. "I've always wondered, why do you want to help Peter so much?"
"Because he needs help... also, Paul."
"Who?" Harry asked.
"No idea, I just know he's the worst." Never read the comic, only heard about it.
"What?!"
Instead of answering Harry's confusion, I just walked away.
"...Who the fuck is Paul?" Harry questioned as I walked away.
===
"Be honest." I gestured to the ball and chain. "You hate it, don't you?"
Gwen reluctantly lowered her shoulders. "Yeah, it got tedious real quick."
"Yeah, props are the worst… What happened to the rabbit?"
"Gave it to a little girl, didn't want to carry it all night."
"Does that mean you're going to give the ball away too?"
"At least it's better than wearing a fur suit." Gwen felt up my Grinch outfit. "You're probably sweating an entire pool."
"Nope, my body is pretty good at regulating body heat." Biomass manipulation helps though.
There was a brief silence as we walked, it was weird. We don't really talk back to fourth, not like with Peter, Ned, or even Harry.
"I'm getting my braces removed," She told me.
That came out of nowhere. "Neat. What's the first thing you're going to eat?"
"I kind of want an apple."
"An apple? I know you can't eat stuff like mangos or popcorn, but you can't eat apples either?"
Gwen chuckled for some reason. "Nope. Couldn't have carrots either, or corn, or peaches. You never realize how much you miss fruit until you're told you can't eat it."
"That applies to everything. I haven't used my phone for hours, but if I don't have it on me, I'm anxious as hell. It's pretty sure it's called nomophobia… or something."
"How do you know that?"
"I'm smart," I answered, half smug, half joking.
"I always wondered, where did this all come from? I mean, you excelled in math, but suddenly you're designing an app?" she asked playfully.
"It's called... giving the bare minimum unless it makes me money." I waved my hand through the air like I was announcing something incredible.
Gwen let out a laugh, but it slowly faded, replaced with silence.
Gwen took in a deep breath. "Hey, do you have any plans for Veteran's Day?"
I raised a brow. "Not really. Why do you ask?"
She tapped her plastic ball in a repetitive way.
"F.E.A.S.T. is asking for volunteers, and I was wondering if you wanted to come." She paused. "It's mainly just going to be handing out care packages and other things."
Wait a second—the pause. Her twiddling her finger, asking me to hang out with her, then framing it as something else.
"Oh, well—" Shit.
Does she like me? My instincts are telling me yes. Considering half my templates, they're probably right.
What should I do? On one hand, it could end badly. On the other hand, she's literally one of my childhood crushes. She's even my favorite version, 616 inspired. While the Spider-Verse version was cool, I still prefer the academic over the punker.
"If nothing comes up, sure." Why did I say that?
Gwen lit up. "Really?!" She froze as she realized how excited she sounded. "I'm sure the people at F.E.A.S.T will be thankful." She tried to play it cool, she was not succeeding.
Why does she even like me? I'm pretty sure I haven't done anything to get her attention.
Part of me wished I said no, to avoid the trouble. Then again, I'm pretty short-sighted. Creating the personas, creating a fake story for Ghost. It's kind of pointless, but it's fun.
Who knows what could happen, it could be a one time thing. It could become more, that's part of the fun, not knowing.
WHEE, WOO, WHEE, WOO
In the distance, I could faintly hear the sound of sirens. A moment later, a group of police cars drove through a cut-off section.
Traffic was redirected for the Halloween parade. They probably had to take the long way around. It could explain the rush, but I had a feeling it was something else.
"What was that?" Gwen asked.
"Did you guys see that?" Ned ran up to them, with Harry, Peter, and MJ following closely behind.
"It's probably just some frat house out of control. It happens every Halloween," MJ explained. "Probably threw a party too big, or got drunk and somebody reported them."
"Or maybe they are responding to a monster," Harry spoke in a spooky voice.
Everybody gave him a strange look.
"What? I can't make a joke?" Harry asked defensively.
"Doesn't seem like it," MJ answered.
"Uh, I gotta go." Peter gestured in a random direction. "That ice cream really ran through me. I need to use the bathroom."
Before anybody could question it, Peter already ran off. Obviously the bathroom thing was a lie. Ned and Gwen seemed to believe it. MJ and Harry, not so much.
On cue, my phone rang.
Well, that's convenient.
"I gotta take this, it's important."
Before any of them could ask, I left, answering the phone and acting like I was talking to somebody important.
"Talk to me, Conrad." I dived into an alley. "What's going on?"
===
3rd Person POV
A man sat alone in darkness, sharpening a knife. The room was a mess—tarps covering furniture, dust and cobwebs everywhere.
A radio let out a crackle, a voice filtering through the static.
"We need backup!" The voice was panicked, scared.
BANG, BANG, BANG
"They won't go down!"
The man stopped. He stabbed the knife into a nearby crate.
A grim expression formed on his face as he marched up to a wardrobe and yanked it open.
Inside were dozens of weapons, shotguns, submachine guns, pistols, and even a grenade launcher. In the dead center was a bulletproof vest, the image of a skull crudely spray-painted on it.
===
"Where is it, where is it?" Peter frantically searched the rooftop.
Peter stuck his hand underneath an AC unit, pulling out an old backpack. After checking to make sure he was alone, he pulled out a set of clothing.
A red ski mask, a blue sweater, black fingerless gloves, and a pair of swimming goggles.
He stumbled as he put the mask and goggles on, stuffing the jacket from his costume into the backpack as he put on the sweater. Nearly tripping after getting his head stuck in a sleeve, he checked his web shooters.
Bulky, made of scrap, and only half full.
"Let's hope I don't run out."
Peter glanced at the edge, taking a deep breath as he broke into a sprint.
As he reached the edge, he leapt into the air. He raised his hand to the sky, a web rope shooting out.
He swung through the back alleys of New York, out of sight of the public.
Every so often, he would get a glimpse of the main street—children wearing costumes, walking with their parents, celebrating the night.
They were happy, and he was going to make sure they stayed happy.
He swung faster, the sounds of sirens becoming louder.
===
"Talk to me, Conrad. What's going on?" Leo questioned.
"Check for yourself." Conrad sent over a video.
The video was shaky and vertical, probably taken from an apartment building.
The cameraman peered out the window. A trio of police cars were parked in front of a morgue.
"What the hell did they do?"
A cop ran out of the building, blurry due to the distance.
A second man walked out. The cop raised his gun and fired.
BANG, BANG
"Holy shit," the cameraman cursed.
The man staggered back before sprinting toward the cop, slamming him against the police car. The video cut off as the cameraman backed away from the window in shock.
"It was posted to Instagram a few moments ago. I removed it under our terms and services," Conrad explained. "There's a chance it could just be adrenaline, but I thought you should know, just in case."
Leo examined the video, letting out a sigh. "It could just be a druggie, or somebody on adrenaline. Then again, this is Marvel."
Leo examined his surroundings—no cameras, no people.
He stepped through the darkness. His body shifted as he used his biomass manipulation. At the very end, he spoke a single name.
"Ghost."
Leo stepped out of the alley, his Grinch costume gone. Instead, he was wearing Ghost's uniform.
Loadout was a useful ability, able to instantly equip and store his personas' clothing and weapons. Combine that with biomass manipulation—shifting his height, muscular structure, and weight—
Unless somebody directly saw him transform, it would be nearly impossible to connect Leo to Ghost.
As Ghost jogged through the street, a few people gave him a glance. They didn't pay much attention, assuming his uniform was just a costume—and his weapons, props.
What Ghost didn't know was that tonight… was just the beginning of something bigger.