No Stain Laundromat:
"Boss," Lucia called with respect.
Frances looked up from the file in her hands towards Lucia.
"Mary is here," Lucia informed.
Seeing Frances's questioning gaze, Lucia hurriedly explained, "Boss, it's my friend Mary. The one who wanted to join our gang."
A hint of realization appeared on Frances's face as she remembered who Lucia was talking about. The one who was caught in the crossfire while trying to use her new power.
"She's back so soon?" Frances asked, mildly interested. She had thought that after that fiasco, the friend of Lucia would be too afraid to even stand in front of her. Giving her one week was just a whim.
"Yes, Boss," Lucia nodded.
"Call her in."
Lucia hurriedly thanked Frances and left the laundromat's back office to bring her friend in. Soon, Lucia, with Mary in tow, entered the back office.
Mary immediately felt a shiver run up her spine when she saw Frances sitting in the boss's chair, looking at her with a faint, amused smile. She remembered the day she heard the words.
"LET HER GO!"
Even if those words were meant to help her, she was also unintentionally affected by them. The fear she felt that time eclipsed the fear and humiliation she felt whenever she was bullied.
Born prematurely, Mary MacPherran never quite grew into the world around her. Small, thin, and fragile-looking, she became an easy target. The other kids called her "Skeeter," a nickname that stuck like a stain. At first, she believed high school would be the worst of it — that once she graduated, she could finally disappear into adulthood and leave the cruelty behind.
She was wrong.
After barely finishing school, she took whatever work she could find, surviving alongside her only friend, Marsha, another outsider, mocked for being awkward and overweight. They thought work would be different. It wasn't. The bullies found them, as if cruelty had a tracking device. The insults followed. The laughter followed. Only the setting changed.
If anything, it grew worse. In school, it had been childish. Now it felt deliberate.
Eventually, something inside her snapped. She decided to leave. She packed what little she had and left Denver for New York City. A new life in a new state. She asked Marsha to come with her, but Marsha refused, too afraid of the unknown.
Mary scraped together enough cash for a rat-hole apartment in a gutted neighborhood where gunshots popped like distant fireworks and alleys reeked of garbage and damp concrete. She took a job as a cashier at a corner store, the register dinging under harsh fluorescent lights, the air thick with cheap cigarettes and spilled beer.
That's where she met Lucia. They bonded slowly — over burnt coffee and long shifts, their quiet jokes cutting through the grind. The shelves sagged with dusty cans. Customers barked orders. But in the narrow spaces between transactions, their friendship sparked raw.
Mary had grown bitter over the years.
Running from her bullies had given her distance, not relief. The insults were gone, but the bills remained. Rent. Utilities. Groceries. The quiet, constant arithmetic of survival.
At night, she drifted into fantasies. Winning the lottery. Being "discovered." Waking up rich, admired, untouchable. In those daydreams, she walked into rooms that once would have rejected her, only now people stared for different reasons.
Money, she believed, would solve everything. Money would silence laughter. Money would turn "Skeeter" into something people envied.
Reality, of course, was less cinematic.
Then the neighborhood shifted.
A new gang appeared almost overnight. No one saw it coming — and even fewer expected its leader to be a woman.
Within weeks, they took another street.
Lucia changed first.
Lucia and her brother joined the gang, and almost immediately, something in her posture hardened. There was purpose in her walk now. When she spoke about the boss, there was admiration in her voice. She proved her worth, and in return, the boss rewarded her with responsibility and trust.
And with money.
Lucia quit the store the same day she was given a larger role. She began working for the gang full-time. Yet she still visited Mary from time to time, bringing stories from a world that felt only a few blocks away yet impossibly distant.
Sometimes, when Lucia talked about the operations, about strategy and turf and reward distributions, a thought crept into Mary's mind:
What if I tried?
But she always buried it.
That world required boldness. Risk. A spine she wasn't sure she possessed.
Then the gang claimed another street.
Lucia showed up one evening wearing a dress Mary had seen only in storefront displays. It looked elegant, sharp, and of course, expensive. When Mary asked where she'd gotten it, Lucia laughed lightly.
"A bonus," she had said. "Boss distributed rewards after we secured the new turf."
The dress cost more than what Mary earned in months.
Jealousy struck fast and ugly. Not just at Lucia — but at the woman leading it all. The female boss who commanded streets, loyalty, and fear. The one who walked where she wanted and took what she decided was hers.
Mary hated that she admired her.
That was the moment something clicked inside her. The fantasies she nursed at night — wealth, power, recognition — suddenly no longer felt like accidents of fate. They looked like choices. Dangerous choices.
This time, she didn't smother the thought.
She asked Lucia to introduce her to the boss.
Mary's first meeting with the boss had been a disaster. A collateral damage, that was all she amounted to that day. And in the end, she put on a pathetic display for the boss. And that too when the boss actually helped her.
But she never thought that, even after that, the boss would give her another chance. Now, she once again stood in front of the boss. The fear that was trying to erupt inside her as she looked at the woman lounged in her chair, arms crossed, boots resting casually on the table, amusement flickering across her face. It made her want to turn tail and run away as far as possible from that monster.
But she had run enough.
She clasped her trembling hands behind her back to hide the shaking and forced herself to step forward. One step. Then another. Each one was heavier than the last.
The boss's smile widened slightly.
"Boss," Mary said, steadying her voice by force alone, "please let me join the gang."
Empire State University, Cafeteria, Lunch Break:
"Hey, Marko," I said as Marko plopped down beside me at the table.
I ate a bite of my sandwich, then frowned. I looked back at Marko. He was quiet and had a distant look on his face, as if he had just crawled out of a bad dream. Felicia, on my other side, fiddled with her salad fork, her brows knitting as she eyed him too.
"You alright, buddy?" I asked, shaking his shoulders.
Marko snapped back. "Yeah, all good."
Then he stared at me in silence with a weird-ass expression twisting his features.
"Have you seen Gwen today?" Marko blurted. He glanced around, hesitation covering his face.
"Gwen?" I asked, taken aback. "Nah, why? What happened?"
Marko didn't answer my question; instead, he asked another question, "Did you say something to her?"
I have said too many things to her. I don't even know which one he's talking about.
"Nope," I replied with a straight face.
"Somehow, I don't believe you," Marko said with a skeptical face. "You can be an asshole sometimes."
"Well, fuck you, too."
"Ok, jokes aside," Felicia said. She looked like a shark that had smelled a juicy drama. "What happened to Gwen?"
"I just saw her," Marko said, looking like he was having trouble voicing his thoughts. "She looked," he paused, then looked as if he was searching for an appropriate word, but when he didn't find one, he just said, "different."
"What?" I asked, speechless. "The fuck do you mean by that?" I laughed.
Marko hesitated, then he just shook his head, "Forget it, she should be arriving in the cafeteria any minute, you will know by then." Then he started eating his lunch as if nothing had happened.
I fucking hate cliffhangers.
"What's with the mystery, Marko?" Felicia teased, with a mischievous smirk and a glint in her eyes. "Hiding something from your dear friend?"
The sandwich stopped an inch from Marko's mouth. He turned his face towards us. An ugly smile on his face as he stuttered, "I-I, n-no ma'am."
Marko shot me a death glare as he saw me smirking at his plight, but it was erased as he looked back at Felicia.
I laughed. That's what you get for trying to act mysterious.
"Tell me how Gwen is different today," Felicia demanded with a sweet smile.
Marko sighed, mouth opening, but gasps rippled through the crowd as heads turned and whispers buzzed like flies. All eyes locked on the swinging doors.
"Now you can see for yourselves," Marko said.
Felicia and I exchanged glances, then shrugged and looked towards the door as well.
I saw Gwen at the entrance. And calling her different would be the understatement of the century.
Gone was the girl next door with big, round glasses and simple clothes. In her place stood a striking goth with a corset hugging her waist, a leather jacket left open over a short skirt, fishnet stockings disappearing into towering heels. The glasses were gone. Where she once wore little to no makeup, her eyes were now lined with dark kohl and her lips painted a deep black. Even her blonde hair bore a rebellious streak, one long section dyed jet black.
Gwen strutted into the cafeteria as if she owned the damn place—a confident smirk on her face.
A hush fell in the cafeteria as all the students looked at Gwen. It looked as if someone had pressed the pause button, as whatever everyone was doing, they stopped in place to look at the girl with newfound confidence.
Damn. If Captain Stacy sees this, the man might just have a heart attack.
I looked at Peter. His jaw had dropped to the ground. Beside him, MJ looked stunned, but mainly amused. On the other hand, Liz, on his other side, had her eyes blazing in jealousy. She sneaked a peek at Peter and, looking at Peter's reaction, she felt a sense of crisis.
"Hey, babe," one of the jocks at the elite seat got up with a cocky smirk. "How 'bout I take you out after classes? Burgers, movie, then whatever. I'll show you a good time." His hand brushed her arm, casual but pushy, muscles flexing like he's flexing his whole ego. His eyes locked on the exposed cleavage above her corset.
Gwen looked at the jock with an amused smirk. She gave him a once-over, then said, "Pass. Your 'good time' sounds as thrilling as watching paint dry on a locker. Go hump a football or something." Then she casually strutted off.
Gwen then turned and, instead of going to her regular table, came towards us.
"Hello, friend," Gwen said with a breathy voice, with an emphasis on the word "friend".
"Hey, friend," I greeted back cheerfully, looking oblivious as if I didn't understand the hidden meaning behind her greeting.
The sassy, confident expression on her face faltered for a moment when she heard my response, but came back again. She looked as if she was challenged and had accepted that challenge.
"Well," she said with a smirk. "I just came to say hi. See you later, friend."
She turned and walked towards her regular seat, hips swaying.
As she sat with Peter and the girls, Marko said, "You have definitely said something to her."
"I agree," Felicia added.
—
"Miss, let me help you," I said, stepping out of my taxi to assist my next passenger with the mountain of shopping bags piled around her.
We crammed the trunk until it was full, then squeezed the remaining bags onto the back seat. When we were finally done, we both let out quiet sighs of relief.
"Thank you," she said with a smile. Even behind her mask and oversized sunglasses, I could tell—something in the way her cheeks lifted gave her away.
I slid back into the driver's seat as she settled into the rear, guarding her bags like precious cargo. The engine hummed to life, and we pulled away from the curb toward her destination.
"Miss Storm," I said casually.
She stiffened in the back seat.
I didn't look at her. "You're already in the taxi. You can relax. The mask and glasses aren't necessary."
Susan vanished as soon as I said that. "How do you know?" She demanded, her voice wary but dangerous.
I didn't react. With one hand steady on the steering wheel, I slid my phone out of its mount and extended it slightly toward the back seat without taking my eyes off the road.
"The app says the passenger's name is Susan," I said matter-of-factly. Before she could say anything, I continued stating my observations, "Your destination is the Baxter Building. And with your face covered like that, you're either planning something illegal… or you're someone who doesn't want to be recognized."
Of course, I also verified it using my system. But that wasn't something she needed to know.
Silence.
A second later, she reappeared.
The mask came off first, then the oversized sunglasses. A faint blush of embarrassment colored her cheeks.
"Ahh, sorry about earlier," Susan said with a sheepish look. "I forgot the app shows the passenger's name."
"No worries," I said, waving my hand dismissively.
"But, wow," Susan said, studying me. "You knew from the beginning. And you acted like I was just another passenger."
I sighed inwardly. She wanted anonymity, but not indifference. Recognition without the proper reaction was apparently unacceptable.
"Oh. My. God." I gasped suddenly, eyes widening in awe. "Susan Storm. From the Fantastic Four. I can't believe this. I'm your biggest fan. I've watched every public fight. Could I please get a photo with you?"
My enthusiasm immediately took Susan aback.
Then my face returned to normal. "Is that better?" I deadpanned.
She stared at me for a second longer before exhaling. "I… don't even know how to respond to that."
I chuckled, and after a beat, she did too.
Time passed as we talked about random things, and a while later, we finally arrived at her destination. I helped take out her bags.
Susan looked at the mountain of bags, then turned her head up to look at the building, and then finally back at me.
Fine. I'll help.
With a resigned sigh, I picked up the bags one by one, hanging them on my arms. I never knew I would ever be thankful to my increased strength for such a reason.
"Thanks, Kevin," Susan thanked me with a sweet smile.
Whatever.
I followed her as she skipped inside the building. We passed the elevators used by ordinary people and entered the one used exclusively by the Fantastic Four.
The elevator took us straight to the floor with the living quarters of the Fantastic Four.
"I actually wanted to bring someone with me, but Reed was busy, and Ben straight out refused," Susan sighed. "I thought about taking Johnny, but he suddenly disappeared somewhere, so in the end I had to go alone."
I looked at the endless shopping bags hanging on my arms, and I understood the reason for Johnny's disappearance.
The elevator door opened with a ding, and we stepped out into what looked like a living room. Behind the bags, I could barely see the scene in front. On the sofa, Ben was watching the television, and nearby, Reed was working on his laptop. Both of them turned to look at us.
"Did you buy the whole shop?" Ben asked, exasperated, with a gravelly voice.
Reed smiled and shook his head. He gave me another look. I nodded, and he nodded in return, then turned back to the laptop screen.
"Don't exaggerate," Susan scoffed. "I just did a little shopping."
"Little shopping?" Ben laughed. "I think you don't understand the meaning of the word 'little'."
Susan rolled her eyes and ignored him. Then she removed the bags from my arms one by one.
"Who is he?" Ben asked casually. His eyes had been trained on me since I arrived.
"He is Kevin," Susan introduced with a smile. "He was my taxi driver and helped me carry the bags."
"Sup," I said to Ben. My casual greeting took him aback.
I ignored and started stretching my arms after Susan removed the last bag.
"You aren't afraid of me, kid?" Ben asked, incredulous.
I internally rolled my eyes. Can he be any more insecure?
"Should I be?" I asked bored.
"Of course, you should—," Ben paused abruptly. He looked confused about how to answer my question.
I sighed.
Then, intense terror filled my face. My eyes widened in panic. "M-monster!"
I took a step back in fear and tripped on my own leg. "No, back off. Stay away from me."
"No, please let me go," I pleaded as I dragged myself backwards.
Then, as if nothing had happened, I stood up and patted my back.
"That enough?" I asked, again looking bored.
Ben looked at me, speechless. "Kid, I don't know if I should be offended or impressed."
Susan giggled from the side. Reed also looked at me with interest.
As I was about to ask for my fare, Johnny suddenly barged into the living room. A photograph in his hand. "Reed, Ben, look what I found."
"What got you so excited, Matchstick?" Ben asked, though he didn't pay much attention and was looking back at the television.
Reed glanced up calmly. "What is it, Johnny?"
"It's something interesting, Rockhead," Johnny said, waving the picture. Then his gaze fell on Susan and me. "Oh, sis. You are back?"
"Yes, I am back," Susan said, a faint anger in her voice, her hands on her waist. "You tell me where you disappeared. Because of you, I had to go shopping alone."
Johnny visibly shuddered when he heard the word "shopping".
"And what it is that you are so excited about?" Susan continued.
Johnny's expression changed from panic as he remembered the photo in his hand. A mischievous yet angry expression appeared on his face. "I found a photo of someone in one of your books."
Susan's eyes widened as she heard that. Her gaze snapped at the photo in Johnny's hand.
"That's my private property, give it back to me," Susan said angrily.
"Oh, yeah?" Johnny shot back. "Then tell me why you have the picture of Namor as your private property?"
The room shifted. Ben finally looked away from the television. Reed stopped typing.
"That's none of your damn business, you insolent brat," Susan snapped. "Now give me back the photo." She lunged at Johnny to snatch it back, but he easily dodged her.
Johnny looked angry that she so desperately wanted to get the photo back. "Why do you have the photo of our enemy?" He shouted in anger and burned the photo to ashes.
"You have no right to do that to my property," Susan said, trembling with anger.
The whole fiasco happened in mere seconds, so Reed and Ben didn't get time even to intervene. But finally they did.
"Sue, Johnny, stop fighting," Reed said firmly. He turned to Susan, "And Sue, I think you owe us all an explanation."
Susan was still angry at Johnny, but sighed when Reed asked the question. She knew now that Reed had asked her directly, she had to tell them.
"I feel that Namor is pitiful," Susan started. "I think he is merely a victim of circumstances. Maybe under different, better circumstances, he might even be our ally."
She took a deep breath. "Behind the tough exterior, I feel there is a gentle soul underneath waiting for someone to heal him."
She continued with a soft voice, "I know he is hostile to us. But I think we can mend our differences if we try hard enough."
"Sis," Johnny said with anger. "That man tried to kill us."
"Women," Ben scoffed. "They claim they want the good guy, but at every chance, they always go after the bad boy."
Reed had hidden it, but I saw the flicker of jealousy in his eyes.
Before the argument could continue further, Reed's phone started ringing.
Reed looked at the phone screen. He looked like he didn't recognise the number. He accepted the call, and a video call started.
A face covered with a metallic mask appeared on the screen.
"Hello, Richards," the man on the other side of the screen said in a regal voice. "Remember me?"
"This voice," Reed said in a low voice to himself.
"Yes, I am who you think I am," the man rumbled. "You and your teammates in Fantastic Four can call me Doctor Doom."
So after Namor… now Doom.
Fantastic.
What the hell am I still doing here?
"What do you want, Doom?" Reed asked.
"I will tell in my next call shortly, but first, you look out of your windows," Doom laughed and cut the call.
"Who was that fool?" Ben asked.
Reed showed a distant look. "He is Victor von Doom. Years ago, he was my classmate at Empire State University. He was a brilliant student but dabbled in forbidden experiments. One such experiment failed, causing a major explosion in the dormitory; he barely escaped with his life. He was kicked out for that stunt. I never saw him again."
"Yeah, so he is an unhinged scientist, ok," Ben mocked. "But what does he want from you or us?"
"I don't know Ben," Reed shook his head. "Let's see what he wanted to look at outside the windows."
Reed walked towards the balcony door. The other members of the Fantastic Four followed behind him with curiosity. I sighed and followed too.
Outside, we could see that a huge mesh net had covered the entire building.
"Does the idiot want to trap us with these flimsy ropes?" Ben scoffed and pulled the net, trying to break it.
But as soon as he touched the net, he yelled and was thrown backwards.
"Be careful," Reed said urgently, seeing that. "Do not touch it. The net's electrified."
"Leave it to me," Johnny said with an arrogant expression. "I will burn it to a crisp."
But no matter how high the temperature of the flames he used was, they failed to damage the net.
Resigned, the Fantastic Four retreated inside.
Reed's phone rang again.
Reed picked up the video call again.
This time, Doom didn't talk to Reed alone, but the whole team.
"Fantastic Four, heed my words," Doom started. He spoke as if a monarch giving orders to his subject. "You are now my prisoners. If you want to make sure nothing happens to the other residents of the building, you shall do as I say."
"That fucker," Ben growled in anger. He cracked his knuckles. "I will show him what a prisoner can do."
Reed and Johnny hurriedly stopped him before Ben tried to tear the net again.
"Don't be reckless, Ben," Reed said. "You will only play his game like that."
Doom laughed as if feeling entertained by the Fantastic Four's reactions.
"You dare laugh, Tin face," Ben snapped.
"Ben, calm down," Reed placated.
"What do you want, Victor?" Reed asked calmly.
"Send Susan Storm to the roof," Doom demanded. "I will take her hostage to make sure you do what I demand."
"Absolutely no, sis," Johnny said immediately, looking worried. "It is a trap."
"It may be," Susan said with a smile. "But I can't gamble with the lives of the people in the building. So even if it is a trap, I will have to walk into it."
"But, sis," Johnny protested weakly.
"It's ok, Johnny," Susan said gently, lightly caressing her brother's face. "I know all of you will save me," she said, looking at her teammates.
"Damn right, we will," Ben shouted.
"What a touching scene," Doom mocked. "Now get going, do not waste my time." He cut the call.
"Be careful, Susan," Reed said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "He is very dangerous."
"I will," Susan nodded.
"I promise I will not let him harm you," Reed swore.
Susan smiled. She entered the elevator and left.
A few minutes later, Doom called again.
"Now that the Invisible Girl is my hostage. It's time for you all to come up as well," Doom ordered.
"Let's go, guys," Reed said to Ben and Johnny. "We must bring back Sue without harm."
Reed turned to me and said with an apologetic face, "I am sorry that you had to go through with this. Once we leave, Doom should remove the net, then you will be able to leave safely."
"Sure, no problem, man," I said. "Be careful out there."
And there goes my fare. I don't think it is the correct time to ask for it.
"Who said that he can stay back?" Doom interjected in between.
What the fuck?
"What do you mean by that, Doom?" Reed asked, his eyes narrowed.
"I think your memory is getting weaker, Richards," Doom mocked. "I said, 'It's time for you all to come up as well.' Which part of 'all' do you not understand?"
Oi, oi, oi. The fuck is he talking about?
"Victor," Reed snapped. "He is just an innocent civilian."
"Listen, Doom," I said, trying to explain to him that I had nothing to do with the Fantastic Four. But he cut me mid-sentence.
"You shall refer to me as Emperor Doom, peasant," Doom growled. His eyes were like those of a superior looking down on an inferior.
Fucking asshole.
Ok, calm down, Kevin. He is still many times stronger than you; he could kill you with little effort. So, keep yourself calm. Do not fucking antagonize him.
"Listen… Emperor Doom, you might be having some misunderstanding," I said, trying to keep myself from lashing out. "I am just a normal taxi driver who dropped Miss Storm here. I am just an extra here."
"Silence, peasant. You shall do as you are commanded," Doom said authoritatively.
Calm down, Kevin.
"It is your fault that you are at the wrong place at the wrong time," Doom said dismissively. "You shall accompany Fantastic Four."
"Yes, I understand," I said through gritted teeth.
"I am sorry, Kevin." Reed looked even more apologetic. "But you will have to come with us."
"Don't worry, kid," Ben said with a rumbling voice. "I will protect you."
I sighed.
Did the Web of Destiny really fucked with my luck? Or why were such incidents happening to me?
"Sure, then I will be in your care," I said with a smirk.
We entered the elevator and arrived at the roof.
A helicopter hovered above it, a metal cage hanging from it.
"Enter the cage," Doom's voice came from a loudspeaker.
We entered it, and the gate closed on its own.
The cage rose in the air as the helicopter pulled it away.
Panic was useless.
I sat in a corner, waiting for the ride to end.
*********************
Which one do you like more?
Girl Next Door Gwen
Goth Gwen
*********************
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