Guest who left a comment in chapter 11 on Dec 31: I'm sorry it took me so long to see your comment, but I'm glad that you enjoyed Season 3! I do plan on keeping Peter and MJ together as they are my favorite pairing in Spider-Man (can't go wrong with a classic) but that doesn't mean they won't have their fair share of hardships. Peter isn't exactly the easiest person to deal with, and MJ comes with a whole host of her own issues. I do hope you enjoy where I take these characters.
Hello all! It is the beginning of Season 4 and that comes with a whole new story and focus. I have heard your requests from the last season and I do plan on addressing some of them. Unfortunately, I can't address all as that would complicate the story I want to tell, but as always I will do my best to fit the ones I can address as naturally into the story as possible. Also as always, please feel free to throw any requests by my way and I will try to fit them into the story.
Okay, enough talk. Hope you enjoy chapter 1!
Extended Family Part 1
"Aim for the white thing!" the driver of a getaway car roared as he barreled down Fifth Avenue with a slew of police cars chasing them.
"Oh sure, you guys can call me out based on the color of my costume, but when I call you guys petty thieves you get all pissy," Spidey complained as he landed on the roof of their car. One of the thieves in the back leaned out the window to try and get an angle on Spidey with his gun, but the hero punched the gun out of his hand, wrapped him up in webs, and attached him to a light post.
Suddenly, the phone in Spidey's pocket beeped. "Come on guys, wrap this up already," Spidey complained.
"Why Web-Creep, got a hot date?" The three remaining criminals in the car all fired their guns at the roof. Spidey jumped backward, attaching a line of webbing to the car so as to not lose it, but subsequently ended up getting dragged behind it.
"Damn straight I do!" Spidey grunted, attaching another line of webbing to the back of the car, and pulled himself to his feet. His feet stuck to the ground and Spidey pulled back with half of his strength. The car's engine revved loudly as the rubber wheels burned on the pavement, but Spider-Man refused to let go.
The hood of the car started to smoke, and Spidey watched as the crooks inside seemed to be yelling at each other. Then, two of the remaining thieves opened the doors and ran off, however they didn't get far as the police cars came to a halt behind Spidey. It's going to blow!
Spider-Man let go of one of the lines to web the tires of the car to the ground, once they were secure, he zipped to the driver-side window, dodged the bullets the driver fired at him, and pulled the driver out. With the driver in his arms, Spidey swung back to the police cars, shouting, "It's gonna blow!"
Everyone took cover, awaiting the explosion…huh, guess I need to learn more about internal combustion engines.
"Good work, Spider-Man," Captain Stacy said from behind his car. The graying captain walked up to the young hero to shake his hand. "I must say, I thought Jameson was right about that white spider logo, but it's grown on me. Makes me feel better about my hair." Spider-Man laughed, then felt pain shoot through his arm. "You okay?"
Spidey groaned. "Yeah, just got skimmed," he said as he looked at the spot where a bullet had ripped his suit and grazed his arm. "You know I almost made it a week without messing up one of these? Thank god they don't cost as much as they used to." Spidey's leg vibrated, and his eyes widened. "Sorry, Captain I am really late for a thing–"
Captain Stacy waved Spidey's apology away. "We can take it from here, with how many criminals you helped put behind bars this summer, I'd say you've earned the night off."
"Maybe one day!" Spidey shouted back as he swung off for home. As he zipped across the concrete jungle of New York, he pulled out his phone and finally answered his phone.
"You know, Pete," Gwen said in an exasperated tone, "only you can be late for the surprise party you organized."
Spidey ran up to the top of a building and webbed the lip, slingshotting himself forward and to the other side of it. "She's not there yet, is she?" he asked, as he fell into a dive.
"No, but Glory said they just got off the subway," Gwen answered. "She said she'll stall as much as she could, but you know how MJ gets when she wants something."
"HELP!" The smell of smoke reached Peter's nose seconds after the woman's screech reached his ears. "My daughter, she's still in there! We got separated on the stairs! Someone, please, help me!"
Peter shot out a line of web at the building to his left, sending him hurtling at top speed toward the burning building. "Tell her to stall just a bit longer," Spidey grunted, as he flew through a smoking window.
"Pete, are you okay?" Gwen asked. "You sound like you're dying?"
Spider-Man kicked down a door, hearing a tiny cry for help through the smoldering fire. "Just working on my cardio," Spidey answered, through his cough. "I'll be there soon, just make sure Glory stalls." Spidey hung up and put away his phone. He leaned over the stairwell and saw a seven-year-old girl whimpering as rubble from the stairs trapped her legs. "I'm coming!"
Without hesitation, Spidey jumped down the stairwell and landed next to the girl. She screamed at the young superhero, no doubt thinking he was more debris. "Hey, hey, hey, it's okay," Spidey said, trying to calm her down. "I'm Spider-Man, the one, and only friendly neighborhood superhero!"
The building groaned, causing the girl to scream louder and jerk wildly. Without thinking, Peter ripped off his mask and offered it to her. "Put this on," he urged the girl. "The fire can't touch you while you're wearing it." The girl stopped screaming and stared curiously at him. She took the mask and slowly put it on. Peter smiled at her then moved to the debris and lifted it off of her while coughing.
The girl scrambled out from where she was and rushed to Peter, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck.
"Ma'am, you can't go in there!"
"My daughter, she's still inside! You have to go in!" a woman begged the firefighter, holding his uniform in a vice-like grip.
"I'm sorry ma'am, the building isn't structurally safe for our team to search anymore."
The woman crumpled to her knees, the tears that fell from her eyes stained her olive skin.
"Mommy!"
The woman looked up, she almost didn't believe it; there was her little girl coming towards her in the arms of the masked menace himself. "Marie? Marie!"
Spider-Man swung to the ground, gently placed the girl down, then stumbled to his knees. He looked at the mother and daughter reunion with a smile under his mask. Spider-Man turned to swing away when he heard a voice call out to him. "Jameson is wrong…thank you Spider-Man."
Spidey turned around and looked at the mother and daughter standing relieved in each other's embrace. "That's one brave girl you got there," he said through a cough. Then, with a wave to the little girl, he swung off for the party he organized for the return of his girlfriend from California. At least he did until he heard another siren go off in the distance.
Mary Jane was restless. Glory had met her at the airport with Kenny and the three had made their way back to her Aunt Anna's house together. At first, she had been sad when Peter told her he couldn't pick her up, but she still didn't mind getting to spend time with some friends she hadn't seen for half the summer. She wasn't the type of girl that needed to be attached to her boyfriend anyway. MJ liked to have time for herself, and that included her friends. "So, have things fallen dreadfully apart since I left? she asked.
"What?" Glory asked, looking at MJ startled. "Why would you think that?"
MJ gestured at the neighborhood around them, they were only a few blocks away from her Aunt Anna's house, and Glory had been acting odd the entire journey home. "Well, we are in my neighborhood and you've taken me on the longest route to get home, not to mention you've checked your phone eight times in the last minute. So either Spider-Man is fighting some baddie around every corner, or something is going terribly wrong with the surprise party."
"Aw, is the party off?" Kenny asked, a sad look consuming his face as he dragged MJ's large suitcase behind him.
Glory shot Kenny a look, then turned to MJ. "How long have you known?"
MJ giggled. "Since Peter told me he couldn't pick me up at the airport," she answered. "That boy is terrible at keeping secrets." MJ lead Glory and Kenny through a shortcut in the neighborhood she'd often used when she ran to Aunt Anna's house. It saved her time and was a nice secluded route to take when she wanted a few minutes to escape from everything.
"Gwen told me to keep stalling you," Glory said as they pushed through a brush and saw Anna Watson's house across the street. "Apparently Peter is running late."
"Honestly, that sounds about right for him," MJ said with a fond smile. "I think I'd be really worried if he showed up on time to something. Thanks for going along with his plan."
"Anything for you girlfriend!"
MJ pulled out her key and slid it into the lock. It was pitch black in Aunt Anna's house, that suddenly became blinding as all the lights flipped on and people shouted, "WELCOME BACK!" at the top of their lungs.
"Hey everyone!" MJ said enthusiastically. Her eyes scanned the room, and she smiled at all the familiar faces she'd missed over the summer. In the corner by the buffet table, she saw Flash and Rand filling their drinks. In the kitchen working on even more food was both Aunt Anna and Aunt May. She even saw Hobie Brown standing off to the side in the kitchen with Eddie Brock, conversing about his job at the Daily Bugle.
"I'm so glad you're back!" Gwen exclaimed, rushing up to hug MJ. "It hasn't been the same without you!"
"Oh come on now," MJ said with a scoff. "Your exaggerating."
Gwen shrugged. "Maybe a little, but there is one thing that has been the same while you were gone. Peter–"
"Peter's running late?" The two girls shared a companionable laugh before MJ asked one of the few questions that had been on her mind since the end of Junior Year, "Still no sign of Harry?"
Gwen looked down and shook her head. "I know Peter tried to get him here, but Harry said he couldn't make it."
MJ opened her mouth to speak again when she heard Flash Thompson shout, "About damn time, Parker!" The redhead twirled around to see Peter closing the sliding glass door to the backyard gently. He was slightly taller than she remembered, and he definitely had filled out to a degree that made her breathing faint, though there was something odd about his appearance. His hair stuck up at odd angles, and his face was peppered with more dark spots than she remembered.
That didn't matter to her though, he was here. No matter what, whenever he was late, Pete always showed up for her.
Mary Jane's eyes sparkled mischievously, and she ran full-tilt at Peter then jumped at him. She expected to knock him to the ground, but to her surprise (and enjoyment) he didn't budge an inch. "Hey, Tiger," she said, looking up into his eyes.
Peter smiled back, his face lighting up like the sun as it always did when he saw her. "Hey, Red," he responded, his hands settling around her waist. That's when he pulled her flush against him and captured her lips in hers. "I missed you," he sighed when he pulled back.
MJ breathed him in, then coughed. "Why do you smell like smoke?"
Peter groaned. "That really rubbed off on me?" he complained. "I swear if I have to do another shoot with a diva that can't stop smoking for one second, I'm going to steal some of J.J's chill pills."
"I wouldn't try that, Pete. J.J. was prescribed those extra strength ones and he's still J.J." Eddie said as he walked up to the couple, then, in a voice that MJ couldn't hear, he whispered to Peter, "wash your face when you get a chance."
Mary Jane watched Peter's eyes widen, but she said nothing about it. She didn't know what Eddie said to her boyfriend, but she wasn't about to let go just yet. To be honest, MJ wasn't expecting to feel as clingy to Peter as she did. Though she assumed that was probably to be expected, it had been nearly two months since they'd seen each other as Peter didn't have the money to be able to visit.
"The cake is ready!" Aunt Anna called. "Where is the guest of honor?"
"Auntie, am I really the guest if I live here?"
"Hush now, and blow out the candles," Aunt Anna said, casting Mary Jane a look of fake admonishment. MJ smiled at her aunt, then at all her friends, and boyfriend before blowing out the candles.
Peter awoke more refreshed than he had the whole summer. Though his arm was sore from where the bullet grazed him, he had never felt better. He dressed quickly, forgoing his almost trademark long-sleeve gray undershirt to just pull on a simple science pun-themed t-shirt. He used to wear the undershirt to avoid suspicion around his new physique, but since a year had passed since he'd gotten his powers–not to mention the fact that it was easier to believe he'd built himself up over the course of Junior Year and the summer–he felt he could get buy without hiding it anymore.
He glanced at the clock, then dashed for the stairs. He wouldn't be late for the first day of school if he could help it, plus, it was always good to leave so extra wiggle room in case a few crooks decided to be naughty. Peter descended the stairs to find a plate filled for him, and his aunt reading a letter. "Thanks, Aunt May," Peter said as he stuffed sausage into his mouth. "'ho's tha' 'rom?"
"Please swallow before talking dear."
Peter swallowed painfully, then asked again, "Who's that from? Is Tony Stark writing you now?"
Aunt May side-eyed Peter then looked back at the letter. "My sister, apparently–"
Peter's phone buzzed, and he looked down at the screen. "Sorry, Aunt May," he said, "I gotta go before MJ leaves me in the dust!" Peter lifted his plate and inhaled the last of his food before rinsing it off and placing it in the dishwasher. "I'll see you later?"
"Of course dear," Aunt may answered, lifting her cheek so Peter could plant a kiss on it. "Have a good first day!"
The ride to Midtown High had been a confusing one for Peter. Several times, he felt his Spider-Sense go off only for it to abruptly disappear. The one time he managed to maneuver his and MJ's path so he could stop the crime without having to ditch her, they found the criminals already webbed up. If he had more time, Peter would've done some Spidey-Scientist-Detective work, but alas, the Parker luck was not on his side.
"Tiger, you okay?" MJ asked as they walked into the front courtyard of the high school.
"Yeah," he answered, his head still turning on a swivel. "Just a little excited, I guess."
MJ smirked. "You are probably the only person who gets excited about school."
"One of," a voice piped up.
Peter turned to high-five Gwen when a new sensation flooded his head. It was his Spider-Sense, but it wasn't the usual hum or alarm bells he was accustomed to. No, this felt…different. Almost like a radio wave that was being transmitted to him. "What the?"
A new sound distracted the trio as a teen in a bright blue hoodie that had its sleeves cut off, exposing his ridiculously defined arms, vaulted over the fence, and fell face-first into the bushes. The teen rolled out of the bushes and jumped to his feet, making it look like he'd planned the whole thing. He shook his head, causing the hood to fall off his head and reveal the short blonde hair beneath and carefree brown eyes. "Whoo, that was fun!" he said, brushing off the stray twigs that clung to his hoodie. "Which way to Anatomy?"
Peter felt MJ and Gwen freeze next to him, but he was too focused on the weird feeling in his head to notice as they and the rest of the students of Midtown High in the courtyard looked between two Peter Parkers.