Disclaimer: I own none of the characters from Spider-Man, they all belong to Marvel Comics. Note that I am NOT a fan of One More Day or Brand New Day, and this is a 'fix fic' addressing the modern Spider-Man canon.
Spider-Man: New Day Dawning
More and more, Mary-Jane Watson felt there was something fundamentally wrong with her world. When the beautiful redhead had left her boyfriend Peter Parker to pursue fame in Hollywood, she had thought it was the best choice for them both. As much as she loved Peter she couldn't bear the idea of bringing a child into their relationship...
(Where did that idea come from? Why did it seem wrong?)
Anyway, at first she thought they were both better off. Her career began to move, and Peter went on as a successful photographer...
(Why did Mary-Jane think he was a science teacher?)
But somehow, she felt there was something else going on. Why were Peter's villains attacking Spider Man so relentlessly? Why were so many things going wrong in his life? How did J. Jonah Jamison, of all people, get to be Mayor? It almost felt like someone was deliberately doing it to him.
(And that thought scared MJ more than she wanted to admit.)
Mary Jane tried to ignore it, tried to carry on with her life. Peter got kicked out of the old Parker home, he got fired, and she tried to stand aloof. But the worry ate at her, nudging at her soul and making her worry and wonder about what was going on. Finally she knew she had to look into it, and in her opinion there was only one place to go.
(And why did this feel so familiar?)
The home of Doctor Stephen Strange was a gutted ruin as MJ ducked underneath the construction tape, stepping inside the cool, deserted interior. It was a illusion the Dr. had cast after the heroic Civil War, when he resolved to stand with the anti-registration forces. Yet despite being a illusion, it was a frighteningly realistic one.
"Doctor Strange?" MJ called, looking around the deserted interior, "I need your help. I know Spider-Man, and I think someone is manipulating his life... and maybe mine too."
(Admitting that, even aloud, made MJ feel nearly sick to her stomach.)
There was a shimmer, and a bald, Asian man appeared, bowing to her respectfully. "Ms. Parker, it's been awhile," Wong bowed politely.
"Ms. Parker?" MJ blurted, looking at him in confusion, "Peter and I never married."
Wong looked at her intently, frowning slightly. "Oh dear," he finally murmured, "I think the doctor needs to see you. Immediately."
"Right," MJ agreed as he lead her across a mysterious, invisible veil leading elsewhere.
Dr. Stephen Strange sat in a lotus position, studying a glowing orb with red lines traced across it. He wore a simple square amulet to hold his cloak in place, and instead of his usual flamboyant mage's garb he wore street clothes.
"So," Stephen looked up, his black hair having a bit of white at the temples, giving him a wise look, "you believe something is wrong with you and your husband's life?"
"We aren't married," MJ protested, frowning.
"Hmm, interesting," Stephen noted. "If you would allow, I can use my amulet to determine if you have been tampered with, mystically."
MJ frowned, but nodded. "If it helps get to the bottom of this...," she muttered.
Dr. Strange got up, the amulet opening as it bathed her in shining light. "As I am no longer the Sorcerer Supreme I no longer have the Eye of Agamotto, but this lesser amulet should do the trick," he told her conversationally.
MJ was speechless as the light connected her and strange, opening up their minds and shredding illusions. With a choked cry MJ felt the deceptions fall away, the memories of her true life rushing back, ending with the deal with Mephisto...
"Well, that was unexpected," Strange said, kneeling by her as he put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "It seems you were right, both you and Peter are being manipulated by a infernal power."
"Ugh," MJ fought to keep from throwing up as her mind tried to cope with twin sets of memories. "Why didn't you help us then?" she demanded bitterly, remembering her and Peter consulting with Strange to save his aunt, "it would have headed this all off."
"It wasn't me you saw then," Strange shook his head as he told her, "I have no memory of the meeting in your mind."
"Then what...?" MJ blinked as he helped her stand.
"Mephisto," Strange told her flatly, "rigging the situation to his advantage. He crafted illusions for your meeting me and others, to kill your hopes and make you open to his offer."
MJ felt a fury bubbling up inside of her, knowing that she and the man she loved had been used. "So what do we do about it?" she asked quietly.
"When you insisted that Mephisto had to leave Peter alone, you gave us a loophole," Stephen mused as he looked off into the distance, "let me call in some favors..."
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
As Spider-Man swung across the city he enjoyed the freedom of web slinging, knowing there were few enough things to enjoy these days. With the rebirth of Kraven the Hunter it seemed his life was getting worse and worse. It honestly felt like someone upstairs really disliked him...
"Spider-Man," the voice came over his Avengers Card, the built in communicator loud enough to be heard over the wind, "come in!"
"Spider here," he answered, smiling. Being a Avenger was cool, even with everything else that was going on.
"We're in Central Park," Captain America told him, "we need your help! Hurry!"
"Right," Spider-Man answered as he swung across the city. Yet as he neared the park he felt a odd reluctance seizing him, as if he didn't want to see what was there. He pushed past the resistance, determined to see what was going on as he bounded over the tree tops, only to jerk to a stop.
"NO!" Mephisto roared as the giant red demon glared around him. "How did you know?"
MJ walked out from the trees, looking up at him. "Something about the fake world you made bothered me," she told Mephisto, "so I went to Dr. Strange."
The demon glared down at MJ, then nodded reluctantly, "Well played."
"Uhm," Spider-Man dropped down to where Captain America and his team of Avengers were surrounding the imprisoned demon, along with other heroes, "what's going on?" He looked up and blinked as he saw a flash of silver, 'Is that the Silver Surfer?'
"Doc. Strange and the others called up Mephisto to force him to meet you," Ms. Marvel said as the blond frowned, "no one's quite explained to me why though."
"Why doesn't he remember?" MJ asked Stephen.
"Allow me," Strange opened up the amulet again, the light connecting Peter, him and MJ and allowing them to share memories.
Peter stood rigid a moment, then his teeth pulled back in a honest snarl. "How DARE YOU?" he yelled, shaking his fist at Mephisto.
"You know, I don't think I've ever seen the kid that pissed," Wolverine noted from the sidelines.
"Me too," Luke Cage admitted.
"I kept our bargain, little Spider," Mephisto sneered at him, "saving your Aunt in exchange for your possible future. Weren't you happy with my gift?"
"You put me through hell!" Peter growled.
"Which you let me do," Mephisto smirked, "you should make you agreements more carefully."
Stephen Strange strode forward, his trench coat filling in nicely for a swirling cape "You have broken the clause of the contract that you stay away from Peter," he told Mephisto flatly, "the deal is similarly broken. Undo the changes to their lives and begone."
"Do you really want me to do that, Peter?" Mephisto asked, looking down at Spider-Man thoughtfully. "You would lose your Aunt May once again."
"I...," Peter paused.
Strange put his hand on Peter's shoulder. "It wasn't really your Aunt, Peter," Stephen told him quietly, "it was a demon in your Aunt's form, with scraps of her soul to make it realistic." He sighed quietly, "She passed on months ago."
Mephisto shrugged at Peter looked up at him indignantly. "You wanted her back," he said, "that was the simplest way I could do it."
Peter closed his eyes as the pain ripped through him, the pain of loss. "The deal is off," he said flatly, "fix the changes you made and get out of here."
"Are you sure?" Mephisto purred.
"Now!" Peter roared.
"As you wish," Mephisto said, gesturing. He looked down at Peter smugly, "Know this, boy. I may have made some of your troubles, but Osborn's rise to power? The Grim Hunt you faced? All of those were evils made by human hands. I had nothing to do with it!" With that he laughed, fading away even as they all felt reality shift once more...
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Mary Jane Watson Parker felt a stab of relief as the pardons were announced following the shut down of the Superhuman Registry Act. The abuses Norman Osborn had done convinced the American people such a registry was too dangerous, and it had been shut down. That and the return of Steve Rogers, the first Captain America, seemed to signal the beginning of a new heroic age.
"So you're no longer a wanted man?" MJ asked as she and Peter walked together away from the New York Courts where the announcement was made.
"Finally," Peter agreed. They walked close, each one comforted by the others nearness, "Thank you for standing by me in all this, MJ."
"We were meant to be together, Peter," MJ hugged him, "I've always felt that."
"We can finally move out of Captain America's hide out and get back yo our lives," Peter noted. "Do you think you'll miss it?"
"I think we'll stay in touch with them," MJ laughed, "but I'll be glad to not be living in such close quarters. Do you want to be a teacher again, or work at the paper?"
"I dunno," Peter hugged her again as he mused, "we have the right to make those kind of choices ourselves, again."
"About time we did," MJ agreed.
End
Notes: Based in part on my reading 'One Moment In Time' in the Spider-Man books and seeing a loop hole to free Peter from the deal with Mephisto. Hopefully CANON does something similar eventually.