31Chance Encounter
Thinking
'Radio/Phone'
'Telepathy'
Symbiote speaking to Host
If Mark had to say one of the best thing being the host to a symbiote was, it might have to be how convenient it made his life as a whole. Since Toxin could form whatever clothing he wanted he had no need to buy new clothing for himself, he could also absorb most small objects like his phone, wallet, keys, and anything else really so he never lost anything. He didn't need a car since he could web swing mostly anywhere in the city, in fact the only thing he needed to spend money on was food and place to live.
So in a way, living on the road was kind of the perfect fit for him and Toxin. But Gotham seemed to be where they were settling so they needed to find a more permanent residence. In other words, he needed to find the right neighborhood he could make friendly for others, so after looking online for apartments in bad neighborhoods he found a slew of them in the Gotham Village district, which had a fairly high crime rate.
Waking up early he checked out the apartment he had in mind, it was close to his place of work as well as the subway line. After going to work at the bar and getting paid, he immediately made his way to the apartment he had picked out and met the realter he called that morning. After signing the paperwork, paying for the month in advance, and using the rest of his paycheck to buy some food, he had officially finished moving in to Gotham.
Creating a web hammock, Mark hopped onto the black webbing and pulled out his phone. Thinking of calling you're girlfriend? Toxin teased in his mind. He knew that the blonde archer had been on his host's mind all day long but had kept quiet about it until now. Mainly he was thinking about who she was when not in costume, what the symbiote wanted to know was why she was dressing up like Green Arrow.
First off, not my girlfriend. And secondly, yeah. Again we have no plans tonight what else are we going to do? he asked while he called her number he had saved to his phone.
Toxin would roll his eyes if he could, Sure. Keep telling yourself that. The alien replied without a hint of convincement while the host dropped from the web hammock. The apartment consisted of three rooms, a large room with a kitchen on the far side, a bedroom on the wall opposite which was connected to the only bathroom.
The phone was on the fourth ring when the other side picked up, 'Mark?' Artemis' voice picked up on the other end.
He smiled at her voice, "Expecting my call?" he teased lightly as he walked into his bedroom. Changing his clothes into his suit, he left his head uncovered so he could continue to talk without his voice sounding muffled.
She chuckled on the other side, 'You wish. I'm already out, you want to meet up?' she guessed.
"What happened to out of costume interaction?" he asked with mock disappointment, "I was going to take you on a magical swing through the narrows on our way to amusement mile." he explained, listing some of the worst places in the city. "Or would you prefer a night in at my newly, unfurnished apartment with only a TV that gets six channels?" he proposed jokingly.
'As tempting as those options both sound I'm going to have to pass on that. But if your up for a stakeout, meet me at the Midtown Gotham Mall. There's been a bunch of robberies there lately and it'd be a good place to start for the night.' she explained, Mark smiled. After a busy day like today a Stakeout sounded perfect.
"I shall bring snacks. Any preferences?" he asked.
"Ok I did not expect Big Belly Burger." Mark said as he handed Artemis the bag with her order to her. The rooftop overlooking the back entrance to the mall was an ideal point for them to stakeout, they both took a seat on a air vent extruding out from the building's side and over the roof to an AC unit. The takeout bag sat between Artemis and Mark, the archer digging into her cheeseburger while Mark retracted his mask up to his nose to expose his mouth.
Who cares!? Gimmme, gimme, gimme! Toxin's excited voice rang though his host's mind. Mark rolled his eyes as he pulled out a chocolate milkshake and placed it on the makeshift table beside him. Yessssssss. the symbiote squealed out in joy before sending a tendril out to slurp the treat down. Mark rolled his eyes beneath his suit at his partner's excitement, Toxin went nuts whenever he was near chocolate, it always amused the host since it made Toxin sound like a kid.
Artemis watched with mild amusement, "So aliens like chocolate?" she asked amusingly, Toxin paid her no mind and continued to happily slurp the sweet liquid despite the archer's question.
"Symbiotes like it, don't ask me why but Tox is a total chocolate addict." Mark said before taking a bite of his own burger with BBQ sauce. Swallowing the food he resumed speaking, "He'll take in whatever proteins, iron, or whatever I do when I eat food so I gotta eat for two sometimes….does keep me in shape though." he said with a shrug.
The archer finished her burger and wiped her lips off with a napkin before speaking, "So I've been wondering….how did you two meet?" she asked curiously. When alien first came to mind the first image that came to her mind was little green men or Superman, nothing like a liquid being that bonds to a person. When he was quiet for a moment she quickly added, "If you don't mind me asking, if it's personal or something you don't need to spill."
Mark shook his head, "Nah it's fine, just surprised it took you so long to ask. My charm working that well?" he joked, Artemis rolled her eyes at his boasting. He set his food down before talking, "You know Spider-Man right? Red and blue? Swings around New York?" he asked, she nodded in confirmation. "Ok you hear about Venom? Or Carnage?" he asked more tentatively. The way her eyes slightly widened gave him his answer, a few years ago, Carnage broke out of the Ravencroft institute along with a number of psychopaths and wrought havoc upon New York while Spider-Man, Venom, Black Cat, and a few other street level heroes were left to try and stop them while the Justice League was busy elsewhere.
The Maximum Carnage incident as it came to be known as left over three thousand dead, and they symbiote known as Carnage gained worldwide infamy for leading the act. "Well, Toxin….well he's basically Carnage's kid." he explained bluntly, finding no other way to really put it.
Artemis did a double take, "Wait what!? Carnage actually got a girl to…." she trailed off, really not wanting to mentally picture how twisted someone would have to be.
Both Toxin and Mark were also put off by what she implied. "What? No, symbiotes are asexual." Mark clarified. Thank god….uh no offense Tox. He quickly thought, not meaning to offend his friend.
None taken. I don't see what the big deal is to be honest. The symbiote replied with indifference.
Artemis took that information much better, actually chuckling a little to herself, "Where's the fun in that?" she asked casually, Mark was sure if he was leaning on something he would have fallen over from the way she said it. He took another bite to calm his nerves while he felt Artemis turn herself over to him, "But that still doesn't answer how you two met."
Finishing off his food, the host took a deep breath and quickly let it out. "I was heading home one night when I heard this loud explosion. Naturally being a dumb kid I went to check it out and saw Carnage there after….birthing." he said, they both looked disgusted at the mental image before he resumed. "He saw me but he didn't try and kill me, he just slung past me. I didn't notice him plant Toxin on me so he could grow. Later that night he tracked me down to my house and tried to kill me."
This confused Artemis, "But you said he implanted Toxin on you, why would he attack you and try and kill you if he wanted Toxin to….." she trailed off. As her brain began to comprehend what he was getting at, Toxin began counting down in his head until her eyes widened, "He wanted to kill Toxin?" she asked, the symbiote in question made a ringing sound to show she was correct, "Why?"
The eyes on Mark's mask narrowed in a way which gave him a deadpanned expression, "She asks about the same man who was put in an asylum." he stated bluntly before the suit covered his mouth. "Every symbiote spawn is more stronger than their parent. Carnage didn't want someone stronger than him if he could help it so….he didn't kill anyone that time thank god, Spidey saved my ass even when Venom showed up to do the same thing." he informed.
The archer frowned at his story, "Eventually Carnage found my parents and….well yeah." he told, sparing her the exact details. "After that Spidey homeschooled me so that I wouldn't attract Venom or Carnage to any schools." he explained, it was actually a very brilliant stroke on Peter's part to take him out of school due to his own experiences as a high school superhero. He even graduated a year early with Peter's guidance.
Artemis was silent for a the next few seconds, "I'm sorry." it was all she could say, or at least it was all she could think to say.
The host shrugged, "It's ok…..man that kinda brought down the mood." he joked lightly, making a small smile appear on Artemis' exposed feature. "So what about you? I mean obviously you're not a fan of Batman otherwise you'd be wearing more red and yellow." he joked. Artemis' body tightened up at his question and he immediately regretted asking, he remembered what Toxin said about her being guarded about her personal life.
Artemis wasn't feeling quiet offended but more conflicted, Mark had been surprisingly open to her despite her not saying anything about herself. She even knew what he looked like beneath the suit, though he didn't know that, and yet he only knew her codename. It seemed unfair, "I…" the words quickly died in her throat.
Mark held up a hand, "It's cool if you don't want to get into it." he quickly said.
This frustrated Artemis, "No it's not, I mean you're being so….forthcoming about….alot and…." she trailed off before mumbling something.
"What?" Mark asked.
Artemis sighed, "I said….I also know what you look like." she admitted with shame, making the host and symbiote's eyes widen. "I doubled back after sending you to the open arms, I wasn't sure if you were being totally honest and in case you weren't well…"
Mark felt a small sting of betrayal but if he was to be honest, he couldn't exactly blame her, he arrived out of nowhere and was surprisingly friendly to her. That seemed to be rare in Gotham, Wait so when I ask why it's such a big deal to have a secret identity it ends with you basically lecturing me. But when a pretty girl is involved, it's all forgive and forget? Toxin asked in his head, making the teen frown.
Well…..I…ok yeah you got me there. he thought. He didn't have any more living family that could be put in danger, and while Peter and MJ did take him in, they weren't listed as his legal guardians at the behest of one of Peter's teammates on the Justice League. Probably Batman if he were to guess.
"…..so am I like a one or a ten in terms of looks?" he asked, taking Artemis off guard by the question. She looked at him like he just grew a second head, "What I just want to know how I stack up." he said, trying not to laugh at her dumbfounded look.
It wasn't long before she broke into a smirk, "Depends, didn't get a good enough look." she teased, she didn't expect the entire mask covering his face to retract. The grin he had made her want to hit him, "You cheeky little…" she growled out with a hint of playfulness. "You really do not care do you?" she asked.
The host rubbed the back of his head, "No I do but…..I've met about a handful of people including you in the city and you're honestly the one I know best." he said simply, a small part of Artemis was flattered by the statement and the other part wanted to laugh, that usually was the case when it came to Gotham City, about a handful of people you really knew but only a few of them that you could really trust.
But still she was touched by the gesture of trust, but instead of trying to converse a part of her life to him again she decided something more….similar. Reaching up to her face she took the rim of her mask between her forefinger and thumb before pulling it down, exposing her own face to the shocked host. Seeing the grin get wiped off his face brought one to her's, "So am I a one or ten?" she asked mockingly.
"Nine point five." he said without hesitation, the look on his face made it clear he didn't mean to say it out loud. The grin Artemis had now rivaled the Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland. Regaining what composure he could manage, which was a futile effort on his part, he replied, "Point five comes off because I still don't know your name."
"It's Artemis." she said simply.
"No I mean you're real name." he clarified/ However when Artemis didn't correct herself he realized that she was in fact being truthful with him, "Wait, you're actual name is Artemis?" he asked in disbelief. She simply nodded in response, "Huh…..your parents must really like Greek Mythology. Either that or they have the power of foresight." he said, glancing at the bow and quiver on her back.
"I'm pretty sure it was the former." she said with hint of bitterness in her voice which Mark noticed. He made a mental note to try and not bring up her family, the scowl she now had indicating it was a sore subject to bring up.
"Ok….well then, that brings you up to a ten." he said suddenly, Artemis looked over at him with the same sly look she gave him the night before. She moved herself a little closer to him, suddenly Mark's throat felt a tad dry as she leaned a little close, not enough to touch him but just enough so that the slightly movement would make it so.
"You know…this isn't so bad for a first date." she stated with an ever so slightly impressed tone. The host felt his cheeks warm up at her complement but he managed to keep his composure.
"Wait till you see what I got planned for the second one…if you'd be up for it that is." he quickly corrected, not meaning to assume anything. He always found it fun to team up with someone but he just liked hanging out with Artemis, maybe it was because they were around the same age or maybe they just got along well with one another. But he and Toxin both liked her, and more time with her wouldn't be such a bad thing.
The archer opened her mouth to reply but was swiftly cut off by something going over their heads just below the speed of a bullet. …ok you both saw that guy go flying by right? Toxin asked, the two vigilantes turning their head in the direction the young man went. Only for someone larger to fly right over their heads towards Gotham Academy. OK I KNOW YOU BOTH SAW THAT! Toxin yelled in Mark's mind as he covered his host's head with the suit and Artemis put her mask back on.
Artemis felt something wrap around her bare waist, looking down she saw that Mark's suit wrapped a tendril around her waist, before she could protest they were flying through the air with a red webline shooting from the top of his hand. Her arms wrapped around his neck in a death grip, her eyes nearly popped out of the holes in her mask when she saw the them approaching the ground.
When they swung back up into the air, the scream she was about to release turned into a whoop of excitement. Toxin launched them overtop a building, they both saw as the larger shape flew towards a large school with the gate reading 'Gotham Academy' on the plate. "Go around the side! We'll scout things out before getting involved!" she shouted over the wind as he threw another webline out and swung around the side of the school.
Spotting a section of the school that looked like a gym, he landed at the base of a tree beside the side wall of the building, letting go of Artemis before she promptly elbowed him in the side, hard. "Next time you think of doing something like that? Warn me." she said in a deadly tone which caused him to nod. Artemis looked up at the tree and leapt up onto a branch, swinging herself up onto it she then proceeded to climb the tree while Toxin merely wall crawled to the window.
They both looked inside the gym and both their eyes widened, in the gym was a large humanoid looking thing that had glowing red eyes and elf ears. But what got both their attention was that the humanoid thing was fighting a trio of teens dressed in costumes while making a tornado with his lower half, Mark recognized two of them as Robin the boy wonder, Kid Flash, and the third was someone he didn't know but wore a black Superman shirt with a simply Red 'S' in the center.
Mark felt his spider sense point behind them, Uhhhhhh….Maaarrrrk? the teen turned and saw that they were not alone outside. Artemis saw him turn his head and spun around on her heel while drawing an arrow while a pair of tendrils came out of his back, each of them having a sharp red edge to them as he stared down their newcomers. Surrounding them was to dozen…..for lack of a better term, robotic monkeys. Silver bodies with green lights for eyes, mouths, and jetpacks allowing them to fly. This might be the weirdest date you've ever been on. Toxin stated as Artemis fired an arrow through two of the robots at once.
Mark leapt right at them, grabbing two of them and crushing them in his hands while his tendrils whipped through the air and slicked through one each. Crushing their heads in his hands, Toxin threw the remains of the small bots aside at few of the flyers before he was swarmed by six of them. Before he could get them off him, each of them were picked off by smaller arrows fired by Artemis using a crossbow.
Looking over at his ally, he raised his hand and shot two weblines from the top of his hands at a pair of robots each and reeled them back towards him as his fingers extended into claws and sliced through them. Artemis aimed her single handed crossbow at another hostile only for it to be snatched out of her hand by one of the automated primates, as it flew out away from the tree and turned to aim at her, a arrow pierced it's head.
Artemis smirked as she drew another arrow from her quiver, getting a beat on her new target one of the miniaturized robots flew into her back and covered her eyes with it's hands while it's tail coiled around her neck, "Get off!" she shouted before the jets on the monkey's back kicked in and began to lift her up into the air. She acted instinct, drawing an broadhead from her quiver and sticking it through her attacker's head.
Mark saw her fall out the corner of his eye, Tox catch her! he shouted through their lin as he uppercutted another robot into the air and kicking another away. A black webline shot out from his side, stringing together a net between the tree and the building to catch her fall. Landing on the black webbing, Artemis stood up as she retrieved the arrow from the one she stuck it through manually. As she got up she glanced inside and saw that the large humanoid robot had Kid Flash in it's grasp and was crushing the speedster against it's own body.
She cocked the arrow back against the bowstring and aimed it at the robot's head before letting loose. The arrow broke through the window of the gym flying at it's target, however the humanoid saw the projectile and phased it through him! Dropping Kid Flash in the process much to Artemis' shock.
"Artemis! Get down!" Toxin shouted, she looked over as their attackers swarmed him, however she fell flat against the webbing and watched as spikes shot out through the robot monkeys all at once before they retracted back into the suit. The mechanical primates falling off him with a shrug. Gotta say Tox, your dad is a asshole to say the least but his moves aren't half bad. he thought, kicking some of the debris off the branch in front of him.
Yeah but I do them better. The symbiote boasted to his host as he went to join Artemis by the window. Looking inside they watched as the android phased through another attack. Wait a sec….eariler he was doing that thing that robot on the League does with the tornado but now he's phasing like the Martian Manhunter? Toxin noticed, peaking his host's interest as the android then let out a sonic scream which looked an awful lot like an canary cry. And that was that sonic attack! Mark he's got the powers of the freaking Justice League! We gotta bail! Toxin thought.
Calm Down Tox, look maybe if we work with those guys we can- He was suddenly caught off as the boy with the superman shirt put his fist through the robot's head as it unphased, the head promptly exploded off the body. …..do something like that. the host added while he blinked.
With the glass window broken they could now hear the others inside, "Help me disassemble him! Now!" Robin shouted as he ran over to the body of the apparent android and began to take it apart as Kid Flash walked over holding his arm.
"Dude, the guy has no head." the speedster stated obviously.
"Don't take any chances!" Mark looked over as two new faces appeared, one of them with dark skin, tattoos going down his arms in the shape of some snakes along with a set of gils on the sides of his neck. And the other one a girl who was entirely green with red hair and a blue cape.
"Superboy!" the green girl called with concern as she flew over to the boy with the red 'S' on his shirt.
That green one, she's a Martian right? Toxin asked.
Yeah and the tall guy has gills, so he must be Atlantean. Mark thought back. They're a team…but I don't think I ever heard of them. he thought as he recalled all the teams that they both knew, Doom Patrol, Justice Society of America, and the JLA where the only ones he really knew. Looking over at Artemis he saw her eyes light up like the fourth of July, before he could ask what made her so happy he heard sirens off in the distance. "We better go."
The archer turned from the glass to him and nodded, he held a hand out to her but she gave it a suspicious look. "If we do that again? You go slow. Got it?" she asked before taking his hand for him to pull her close as he shot a webline down to the ground to retrieve her crossbow.
"Sorry you just seemed like a girl who likes it fast…..that sounded a lot less sexual in my head." He admitted before swinging them both away from the school.
Artemis and Mark's feet gently touched down on a rooftop as they reached the end of a webswing. As she requested he swung her as gently as he could so that the ride was, "Madam, your stop." he said in a gentleman's voice as he unwrapped his arm from her waist. "Gotta say that was more exciting than a few mall thieves ." he joked.
"Hell yeah it was!" Artemis said excitedly, "And can you believe that thing got taken down by guys our age?" she asked. Her heart was still racing from the fight, "I so want on that team back there, I mean they don't have an archer and I managed to save Kid Flash back there while dealing with those robot things." she boasted proudly.
Mark raised a finger, "I helped too….just wanted to add that." he said, noticing that Artemis still hadn't stepped away from him.
She grabbed his shoulders, "Yeah you did! That move with the spikes? That was genius." she complimented, her finger tapping against his chest. Mark could swear Toxin was blushing from the blonde's praise even though he couldn't see him, "I so want in." she said with determination in her voice.
However her friend seemed less excited than she was, when Mark fist appeared on the scene as a hero his reputation started as the same as his other symbiote hosts, a monster who swung through the skies of New York City, punishing whoever he deemed to be bad. He got a worse reputation than Spider-Man did, at least a good portion of people thought he was a good guy, Toxin was known far and wide as a monster from outer space who ensnared some poor human.
However instead of trying to deny it, Mark admittedly embraced it, while Spider-Man was the neighborhood watch, Mark watched over the dark scary alleys of NYC. This also transferred over to the Superhero community, outside of Spidey, he'd met Batman, Green Arrow, and the Flash. The first outright told him to watch his step, Green Arrow mistook him for a monster and pelted him with fire arrows until he realized Mark wasn't trying to fight him, and Flash…actually Flash was really nice, couldn't complain about Flash.
However it did give Mark a good picture of how other metahumans saw him, so he never joined any teams or worked with other heroes aside from the rare team up which usually didn't last more than a few hours. So the odds of him getting on a team like that?
I think we have a better shot at winning the lottery….although if we went to Vegas, disguised ourselves to look older, we could use our spider sense to kill at blackjack.
First off I told you to shelve that idea, and second zip it! Mark thought as he noticed the excitement wind down on the archer's expression.
"Yeah….nermind, forget it." she said, reality having caught up with her as she stepped away from Mark, making the teen a little worried he'd done something to upset her. "Look, tonight was fun but…I'm gonna head home." she said abruptly as she started to walk away.
However Mark was always taught to never let a girl go home feeling bad, so leaping over her head he landed in front of her. "Woah, wait, are you…ok? I mean you were really excited a second ago and now your acting like someone let your hamster out it's pen and it got all the way down to the street before it got hit by a car." he said, causing the blonde heroine to blink at his analogy.
"….that's….very specific." she noticed with a hint of suspicion, Mark awaited her response quietly nonetheless. Her first instinct was to withdraw and insist it was nothing, but she thought back to earlier, he had been nothing but blatantly open with her since she met him and the fact that he hadn't expected anything in return was…..nice. Irritatingly nice mind you but still….he didn't know about her family, where she came from. But what he did know was that family doesn't define who one is, he was walking proof of that, so she took a deep breath, "My….mom…she's an ex-con….and my dad…he's not even an ex." she revealed, crossing her arms over her chest.
"Oh….well…..um…..you remember the part where I told you Carnage was Toxin's mother right?" he asked with an amused tone.
He could feel Toxin agree with him, Told ya.
Mark had Toxin retract his mask again, "Look, you're clearly not a bad guy. A bad guy wouldn't have saved Kid Flash back there, what's more you did it without a second thought." he pointed out, Artemis bowed her head at the praise. Mark took a risk and placed a hand on her shoulder, "Artemis I've only known you a few days, but I know that you're a good person. At least I believe you are." he said honestly. "Besides screw them if they don't want you, we have a blast partnering up with you." he added cheerfully.
The archer looked up at him with a small smile as he withdrew his hand, "That's…..very sweet." she said bashfully, still taken off guard just how accepting he was. The host smiled at her unashamed, …..screw it. Artemis thought before stepping forward and leaning in. The next thing Mark felt was a pair of soft lips on his cheek, when she pulled away his entire face lit up red and Artemis had to fight the urge to laugh at how flustered he got.
"I….well….um…." he mumbled out before realizing something, "Wait….did we forget about something?"
…oh man! We forgot the mall! toxin said, making Mark widen his eyes. Along with Artemis as she realized it as well on her.
"Crap!" they both exclaimed.
After returning to the mall, the pair easily dealt with the robbers before each of them heading home for the evening. However a week later, Mark was surprised to hear that the word around town was that Gotham Academy had been vandalized by a rival school over the night and would take longer to open when school began. It was a very bold faced lie to say the least, but the question was why? This was Gotham City, home to crocodile men and guys with freeze guns, it wasn't that far of a stretch for an android to some through town.
Maybe because it had all the powers of the League and saying it came to Gotham would cause a panic….no never mind, this city has a clown who blows up buildings, the natural state of mind here is panicked. The symbiote said as Mark walked with a tray of drinks to a table and served them to the patrons there before heading back to behind the Bar. What's weird is that no one here is talking about it. Toxin commented.
The Stacked Deck was a criminal hotspot, nothing illegal happened there but such things were openly discussed. Now the first thing that came to Mark's mind when he heard that crimes would be committed was to stop them right away, but if he did that for everyone that came through here then two things would happen. He'd get less money, and worse yet they might trace him and Toxin's activates back to here.
Not that he ignored the crimes, he just had to be careful about putting too many of these guys away at once.
Yeah….maybe the cover up is a government thing? That android could have been made by the military or something and then it had to be stopped. He offered, he had seen that the same android had fought a few members of the Justice League the day before. However that still didn't explain why sidekicks were the ones handling it at the school.
Setting the food tray back in place. Mark looked across the floor of the bar. The place was smaller as compared to more commercial bars, it had about half a dozen booths with just as many seats at the bar itself. As for entertainment there was a jukebox in the corner, two pool tables in the middle, and a few TV's around showing various channels, one of them having the story about the school being broken into last night.
But as he thought of last night, Mark couldn't help but think of Artemis, she actually opened up to him a little bit by showing her face and giving him her name…..well technically she already did but still. And of course he thought of the kiss, it wasn't anything groundbreaking, just a peck on the cheek. His mom used to do the same thing to him, and she wasn't the first girl he kissed. Mark had a handful of girlfriends, most before he and Toxin met and a few after but they never really went anywhere.
Though he was happy to say that none of the breakups left either of them sour towards the other, life just got in the way for some, while others just fizzled out. And besides if meeting Black Cat taught him anything, it's to never have your ex-girlfriends hate you, because you never know if one of them will become a supervillain.
But what made Artemis different was she and him both were heroes, most of the time he had to call off dates or end relationships because he needed to leave or cancel to save someone. Not to mention she can kick some ass. he mentally noted.
Ok so then why not ask her out on an ACTUAL date instead of these….meet ups? Toxin asked as Mark finished writing another patron's order. As Mark walked over to the bar and gave the order to Sully in the kitchen, he felt his phone go off, Umm, that's not you're phone, it's the one Artemis gave you. Toxin corrected as he made the cheap flip phone appear in his pocket.
Pulling it out he saw it was the same number that Artemis used to alert him to the train, opening the phone he was still a little cautious, "Hello?" he answered.
'Mark? Hey, it's me.' Artemis' voice on the other side greeted, 'Have you seen the news about the school?' she asked.
Mark leaned back against the bar, "You kidding it's the only thing I've heard all day." he replied, glancing up at the TV briefly, "But no mention of what we saw last week."
'I'm guessing the League didn't want people to know….maybe that's why they sent their sidekicks? News fallows Superman like fleas on a dog, he can't exactly be doing something covert.' she reasoned. Mark nodded in agreement, superheroes got more attention than celebrities in today's world. He heard the archer clear her throat on the other end, 'So….I was wondering if you had any plans tonight.' she began.
Mark could feel Toxin grin in the back of his mind, Well looks like she didn't want to wait on your slow ass to ask her out. he thought cheekily.
Mark swallowed, "Um, no. Nothing, why?" he asked.
'You want to hang out? I mean outside of costume, just you and me? Maybe get some coffee? I know this place on 43rd street that has great lattés. ' she proposed as Sully put the order out on the window, Mark quickly delivered it to the table before responding to her, he could feel her getting anxious across the phone.
"That sounds great! I'll meet you there. What time?" he asked with a bit of excitement in his voice.
'How does six thirty sound?' she asked.
"Perfect. I'll see you then." he said before bidding her farewell and closing the phone and putting it back in his pocket where Toxin absorbed it into himself. As he went back to work, only Toxin noticed the smile he had, however he didn't say anything or antagonize his friend. He was happy that Mark had found a potential Mate, besides Artemis seemed like a nice enough girl.
However there was one thing that was on his mind, Hey Mark…..if you could, would you want to be on that team we saw last night? he asked, making his host stop what he was doing for a second before resuming.
I don't know Tox, I mean we've never been on a team. Hell I never really was on one since high school dodgeball and that was basically every man for himself. he thought in response as he picked up a empty table, taking a nice ten dollar tip as well.
I was thinking…..it'd be nice wouldn't it? he asked.
Mark smiled with a forlorn expression, Toxin knew full well that because he bonded to Mark he wasn't always treated as well as other heroes, and he felt guilty because of that. Yeah…..but as long as my best bud was on the team, otherwise I'm pretty sure I'd be dead weight. he replied with a small joke.
He could feel Toxin smile, That is true, your kinda useless without me aren't you?
Mark rolled his eyes but he knew that it was somewhat true.
The small coffee shop did have some pretty good lattés like Artemis had promised, he came in and found her camped out in the corner of the shop in a booth, after ordering some food with their drinks they immediately began to talk. "So he can turn into any type of clothing?" the blonde asked, raising an eye at Mark's claim that Toxin is his personal wardrobe at all times. "So you could give yourself a tux right now if you wanted?" she asked with an amused smirk.
Mark put a hand over his chest, "Oh I'm sorry if I'm underdressed for you're very exclusive coffee shop. I'll go to the bathroom and change really quick." he joked, making the archer chuckle. Artemis herself sill had her hair tied back in a ponytail, she also had on a pair of tight blue jeans and a set of black heeled boots, she also wore a brown jacket with the sleeves rolled up her arms over a white halter top showing off her midsection.
"Your fine the way you are." she said, looking over his simple red shirt with black sleeves and blue jeans. Her lips curled into a playful smirk, "You seem to like what I'm wearing." she teased, having noticed his eyes briefly wander her a few moments ago. Not that she minded, she had been complimented on her looks before and she liked the praise, but when someone tried to cope a feel….well she remembered when one of her dad's friends' son tried something and she had him on the ground half a second later and her father burst out laughing.
However Mark's cheeks warmed up, "Sorry I just…was trying to figure out where you keep your bow?" he weakly supplied. Peter always kept his costume and webshooters on him at all times for when he needed to spring into action. Mark knew a few other heroes who did the same but with Artemis he doubted she could pull something like that off.
She chuckled, "It's fine. And for your information," she promptly withdrew her crossbow from her jacket and quickly put it away, "I'm always prepared."
Huh, wonder if I could do that? Toxin wondered in the back of Mark's head.
"I'm surprised you just don't use two of those and ditch the compound." Artemis quirked her eye at his correct labeling of her weapon. He merely shrugged, "My mom took me hunting when I was younger, made me take the whole safety course and I had to memorize every type of weapon." he explained.
Artemis let out a short laugh, "My bow has better range, trick arrows, and I can hurt people with it. Without firing a shot that is." she boasted proudly.
"Man you would kill at archery events." he noted. "Must have taken a while to learn though, I got lucky with Toxin. He kinda just….spoiled me." he admitted. The symbiote didn't say anything but Mark just knew that he had a smug little look on his face.
Artemis snorted with amusement, "Well I figured that much." she teased, "But still…you must be pretty open minded to having living jelly use you as a roommate." she stated.
Hey I'm not living jelly! I'm….well I'm not slime….or a liquid….oh god am I living jelly!? Toxin thought with mock horror.
Mark rubbed the back of his head, "Oh don't let my current relationship with Tox fool you, when I first found out about him I promptly freaked out in my bathroom when a tendril with eyes popped out of my chest." he admitted, nearly causing Artemis to choke on her drink at the mental image that brought. "But unlike Spidey, me and Tox can get pretty creative." he said, demonstrating by placing his hand on the table and making it invisible.
The archer smirked, "So how many times have you used that in the girl's locker room?" she asked.
Mark made his hand reappear, "Ok first off, that was the symbiote's idea." he corrected, making her chuckle, "Second, no I never did…..but if your offering to fulfill every boy's dream then who am I to stop you?" he asked, the archer smirked at the jest. The host took a bite out of his food before speaking, "So if you don't mind me asking, why'd you ask me out?" he asked curiously, making the archer divert her gaze off to the side.
"Well…..I haven't been at this hero thing long….the night you met me was my second night out actually." she admitted, making the host's eyes widen. The way she acted didn't make it seem that she was a newbie to this, in fact she arguably seemed to be more experienced in this line of work than he was. "And since we've been working together…..well you're the first guy I've met in the same line of work…..figure since I never asked out someone in a similar line of work….wouldn't hurt to see what it's like." she admitted.
Mark chuckled, "I was kind of wondering the same thing, I mean Spider-Man had a number of girlfriends who didn't know and…..well they didn't all turn out as she hoped."
She smirked, "I figured as much. Besides I think it's more fun when they're both heroes." she added. Mark hadn't considered that, usually dates he had with girls were regrettably….lackluster in terms of what he usually did, but with someone like Artemis….
Oh! Good idea! Toxin thought in agreement as they continued eating.
After they finished their food and drinks, Mark offered to pay for the meal as thanks for inviting him out in the first place. When they walked out of the coffee shop, Mark saw that sun was just beginning to set by the color of the sky, "Hey, you want to see something pretty cool?" he offered to the blonde.
She smiled amusingly at him, "I'll be the judge of how cool it is." she said as she followed him down the street and into an alley where he quickly changed into his Toxin 'suit'. She looked unimpressed, "Wow that's really cool." she said with a bland tone.
"Not that." he said before offering his hand out to her, she took his hand and was pulled in close to him. "Ok hold on." he instructed, two weblines shooting out from his shoulders and pulling them up into the air. His arm wrapped around her waist as he swung her through the air. The blonde clung to him for dear life as they swung through the city, "You good?" he asked as he threw out another web.
They flew down an alleyway before being carried back up into the air, Artemis had to hold back a whoop of excitement, "Ok I admit it! This is pretty cool!" she shouted over the wind, while not as fast as a flyer like superman, the swinging was more exciting than she thought it would be, it was like a roller-coaster and a zipline mixed together and just as fun as it sounded.
He jumped off at the apex of his swing and sprayed the next web to a large building known at the Finger Tower. It was similar to the empire state building only in gothic style. "Actually, this is what I wanted to show you." he said as he landed on top of the stone tower. In front of them, the sun was beginning to set over the horizon to the West. Mark shifted his suit back into regular clothes. "You were talking about how much more fun dates are when your date is a hero too, and I love coming up to places like this so…" he trailed off.
The blonde smiled at him before looking back at the sunset, the spire they were on top of was big enough for the both of them but only just, so Mark had his hand on her shoulder. "It's a little…..old school…..but yeah…that's a pretty cool sight to behold." she admitted. The archer's eyes looked at the pink, orange, red, and purple colors the clouds had to them from the orb in the sky disappearing. "I always kind of thought Gotham was this ugly city, like the ugliest in the world. But I found out other cities like New York, Central City, even Metropolis don't look all that different….but this might be the first time I think I've ever said Gotham looks beautiful."
Mark hummed in agreement, his eyes never leaving Artemis' face which she took notice of, "Hey I've seen this like a dozen times now. First time I've ever brought someone else up with me. I wanted to see your reaction." he said for his own defense. The blonde turned on her heels, making it so that he was wrapping an arm around her waist with his hand still on her back so her body was pressed up against his.
Mark's cheeks warmed as she smirked before leaning forward and they both shut their eyes, Mark felt her lips again this time on his own. He instinctively pulled her closer, deepening the kiss and getting a small moan from the archer before he slowly pulled away. Their eyes opened again with Artemis smirking at him, "Not bad for a third date."
"For the next one could we just make out the entire time?" he proposed.
The archer rolled her eyes amusingly, "Maybe….somewhere else though. Not that I mind you grabbing onto me but this is precarious." she said, looking back over her shoulder down towards the ground.
Mark pulled her back into him, "I won't let you fall." he assured.
You sly dog. Toxin thought as he and Mark climbed through the window to their home, after spending a few more minutes up on the Finger Tower before dropping Artemis off near her home. She explained that she wasn't exactly ready for him to meet her mother but Mark was perfectly respectful of her wishes. With another kiss goodbye they both went their separate ways, Mark went home for the evening while Artemis mentioned she was going out on patrol tonight.
"Stop." Mark said simply as he entered his apartment, he had spent the past week properly furnishing his place, adding a large comfy sofa, a coffee table, and television to the living room section of his apartment and a nice bed to his bedroom. "It was a nice date."
Which ended with you two kissing. I don't know human dating custom very well but I believe that is what they call 'scoring' my friend. Toxin said with pride, Mark walking to his fridge and grapping a soda from the container.
"Toxin that's not scoring that's…..ehhh I'll tell you when you're older." he decided, not wanting to get into a discussion of proper slang. "But you're right, that's a….milestone with her." he admitted, their first public date was something and he did enjoy talking with Artemis. AS for kissing her…..well he definitely wouldn't mind doing it again.
For now however he was just happy that she was opening up to him, little by little as it may be. However, while Mark settled in for the night, Artemis returned home that evening to find some visitors awaiting her in the forms of Batman and Green Arrow.
