Mary-Jane Watson Parker watched from her concealed position as the woman she knew was Susan Richards walked down the alley dressed in a trenchcoat that MJ thought likely concealed a scandalous rubbber and latex outfit.
MJ nervously considered what put her in this position to contemplate what she was about to do. She had gone to an amatuer night stip club event. She sometimes attended such events when she found out about them. Not because she particularly enjoyed stripping, but because it was easy money in her mind.
Her and her husband weren't poor, but they certainly weren't rich either. Combined with the fact that her job while paying well was intermittant. She could have one part of the year with to many job offers and another with almost none. Peter's photographer job was much the same way combined with his non-paying job of being the superhero Spider-man.
So MJ when acting and modeling jobs were scarce did a little amatuer stripping to make ends meet. Peter knew nothing about it of course. She never used her real name and was careful to use her experience in theater to disguise herself. Some hair coloring, color contacts, makeup including fake blemishes, scars, and temp tattoos were very convincing especially when you only saw a person one time for a few hours with a room full of distractions such as oscillating lighting.
During one of her jobs she had witnessed an event that lead to her spying on Sue Richards. She'd been getting ready for the amatuer event in the dressing area, touchign up her makeup when a drunk customer had tried to push his way into the dancer area. After getting upset over being restrained he'd thrown a bottle of bear towards one of the dancers whose attention he was trying to get. The dancer instinctively threw up her arms to cover her head when she noticed the bottle and suddenly it shattered in mid-air as if it hit a wall.
The dancer's eyes widened and she looked around, but it appeared no one had noticed as they were too busy looking toward the drunk who was making a spectacle of himself yelling while trying to fight off the bouncers who were trying to remove him. MJ only witnessed the events because she was sitting in front of a mirror and saw it through reflection.
Once the bouncers removed the drunk, the manager who'd been drawn to the commotion asked Suzanne as the dancer was now identified if she was alright. She replied that the bottle hadn't hit her it hit the floor and pointed down to where the glass and fluid had run down the invisible wall to the floor as 'proof' of her words. The manager was just glad of no injuries for his insurance to pay off and didn't think twice about the statement.
To MJ however this was proof that the woman was a meta and concealing it. While interesting this information didn't require that MJ do anything about it as she was hardly the only one here hiding a secret. MJ herself was here under a disguise with a fake ID.
Later however MJ found something that did shock her when she discovered the woman's identity. It was after the event, MJ was preparing to leave the empty dressing room when she dropped her lipstick and it rolled under a makeup table. She was forced to get down on her knees and crawl partially under the table when she heard somone enter the dressing area.
It was Suzanne. She heard Suzanne tell another dancer that she was just going to touch up her makeup and then would be out for set. MJ heard the woman leave and the rummage around getting something out of a purse. Then suddenly she heard a voice that was familiar talking to someone.
"Hey Johnny, just calling to wish the kids a good night since I won't be home until late tonight."
MJ was trying to recall where she knew the voice from while the woman was apparently listening to a responce from Johnny. Then she heard the woman reply.
"Hey Franklin I just wanted to say goodnight since I won't be there before you go to bed. Don't forget to brush your teeth and don't give your Uncle a hard time about about going to bed on time. You know I don't like it when you convince him to let you stay up late." Again a pause, presumably for a responce from the other party and then "I love you too baby, now let me speak to your sister. Hello Valeria, I wanted to wish you goodnight and say I'll see you tommorrow morning...."
Anything else the woman was lost to inattention as MJ's brain finally connected the dots from the woman's familiar voice to the names Johnny, Franklin, and Valeria and the meta powers she had witnessed earlier in the night. The stripper Suzanne was really Susan Richards of the Fantastic Four.
So this is how several weeks later she came to be here stalking the Invisible Woman trying to work up the determination to follow through with her plan. Oh she wasn't planning to harm Sue or even blackmail her really. She needed her help. Peter had recently gotten himself injured in one of his battles and was limited in the work he could do for the next week until he heeled. Ordinarilly that wouldn't be a problem as it had happened before, but this time it came at a bad time as Aunt May was in the hospitol getting treatment. Expensive treatment, even after the pat insurance covered.
Of course she had suggested asking some of the wealthier heros for a loan, but Peter's pride wouldn't let him mooch off of someone else. For that matter even though she suggested it she hadn't felt comfortable with the idea either so hadn't really pushed it. While racking her brain trying to come up with some extra money she thought of the amatuer stripping, but that wouldn't produce enough in one event money and she had alwasy been careful to only go to the amatuer events and never more than one night for fear of being recognized. But what if she had a fool proof disguise, even better than her current use of makeup. A disguise like the one she had already seen. She had no idea what Sue was using though she assumed some technology invented by Reed. Could she get Sue to let her use it. Hell would she be comfortable with a career as a stripper for that matter. The acting and modeling jobs were a little dry at the moment so she had to do something.
Well nothing ventured, nothing gained. She stepped out and followed Sue to talk to her.
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