Kraven slowly stirred awake, his eyes greeted by what seemed like the brightest light he'd ever seen. After a moment, they adjusted, and he remembered where he was: on a prisoner transport vehicle that was on the way to drop him off, where he guessed he would be locked up as if he was the animal. He'd spent the better part of the last couple of days in a similar situation to where he found himself now, only he'd been at a medical facility for most of it, his injuries from his fight with Spider-Man being treated.
That same fight had not left his mind since the moment it ended. Kraven thought for sure he had found the solution to convincing Spider-Man to fight him until only one of them remained. Even after his opponent had removed the detonator from his person, he had assumed that his threats towards Spider-Man's loved ones would be enough to motivate him to finish him off, to give him the death he'd wanted. Kraven had not gone into the fight intending to lose, but if he couldn't win, death at the hands of a hunter better than him was the next best thing. It was the only way he knew: the way of nature.
Only it hadn't happened. His opponent had come close; despite the mask that covered his face, Kraven knew that Spider-Man had been close. He'd raised the blade with clear intent, but something held him back. Perhaps he didn't believe his threats? No, the rest of the fight had proven how seriously Spider-Man had taken him. He'd laid into Kraven far worse than he had in their previous encounters, at times refusing to even let him get up. Still, something held him back from finishing him off. What was it?
These thoughts churned around in Kraven's mind. Like hot coal to a fire, they served to fuel an anger inside of him that made his blood boil. The fact that he'd been denied a glorious death at the hands of a superior opponent began to eat at him. He just couldn't understand it, and he refused to let go of what he craved so badly: a proper fight to the death. He struggled against his restraints, alerting the guards with him to his awakened state.
"He's awake!" He heard one of them shout. "Quick, get him under again!"
Letting his rage drive him, Kraven summoned all his strength, managing to break his left arm free of its restraint. He grabbed the guard going for the sedative and threw him as hard as he could against the other one, slamming them both against the wall. He then used his free hand to undo the other restraints as the vehicle came to a stop. He got up against the side of the wall near the back door, waiting patiently. The doors flung open, but still he waited. As soon as one of the guards who'd come from the front stepped in, he quickly disarmed the man and knocked him out along with the second one.
Deserting the vehicle, Kraven took off into the woods nearby. As he ran, he could feel that he was still not fully healed. His midsection was still hurting, and his wrist still bothered him, but he didn't care. He'd trust that all the special herbs he'd consumed over the year would do their job well enough to allow him to do what needed to be done. Right now, he was being driven by only one thought: find Spider-Man and end this properly.
Peter leaned against the wall of the shop, waiting patiently for his girlfriend's departure from within. It had been a longer wait than normal; she'd texted him earlier to say that it looked like she'd be working a bit later than normal tonight, explaining that they'd been busier later in their open hours than normal. He glanced down at the bag of food in his hand, his rumbling stomach reminding him of his hunger as he did so. It had been very tempting for a while now to cave in and eat his portion of the food now, but he didn't want to make it weird by having M.J. be the only one of the two of them eating when she finally came out.
Okay, it probably wouldn't be that big a deal; Peter knew that his lady wasn't one to let things like that bother her too much. Still, it would be weird to him, and besides, he didn't want to end up greeting her with his face stuffed with food and sauce on his lips. Knowing his luck, regardless of how much he would try and clean himself up, that was exactly how such a scenario was likely to play out.
Finally, M.J. came through the front doors of the store, with Liz right alongside her. M.J. gave him a smile and her usual "hey Tiger" greeting, but her best friend and business partner's glance towards him wasn't quite as warm. Still, she tried to be polite and say hello, a gesture Peter reciprocated before the woman turned and headed toward a nearby bus stop.
"She hates me right now, doesn't she?" he asked as his girlfriend approached him.
"She doesn't hate you, Tiger," M.J. tried to reassure him.
"You sure?" Peter questioned. "That excuse we came up with about 'you-know-who finding about that I used to take pictures of another you-know-who so he captured you to make me contact him' still makes me out as dangerous to be around, which means she probably still blames me for what happened."
"She'll be fine," M.J. assured him. "We're like sisters, so we're protective of each other, but she knows you. She knows you're a great guy and she'll remember that soon enough. Also, what's in the bag?"
M.J. licked her lips, rubbing her hands together enthusiastically as Peter held the bag up and opened it, prompting her to dive in, her hand emerging with a burrito in it.
"Yes!" M.J. exclaimed. "Oh my goodness, this is perfect; I've been starving!"
"I thought you might like it," Peter remarked as he took one out for himself as well. They both quickly unwrapped their food and took their first bites.
"Mmm," M.J. hummed, closing her eyes. "So good. Best burritos around."
"Yeah, and actually not too bad on the budget either," Peter thought to himself. He kept it inside though. He knew M.J. worried about her spending too much money on her, even if he felt like he was actually depriving her of things because of his limited budget. She didn't seem to have any issues with it tonight as she dived back into the burrito, but he still figured it best not to bring it up.
The two of them then began walking, only making occasional conversation in between bites of food. It was only once they finished that they were able to talk properly.
"So, you and Eddie are kind of on the rocks, huh?" M.J. asked.
"Something like that," Peter replied, looking down at the street underneath his feet. "I can't blame him really. If I were in his position, I'd probably be even more visibly upset than he is."
"You guys are so close though," M.J. pointed out. "You'll figure it out."
Peter snorted out some air, feeling his face contort slightly into a smile.
"I appreciate your optimism," he replied.
"One of us has to be," M.J. argued. "We can't both be down in the dumps. Besides, I feel like you're usually the more optimistic one. I'm just trying to help you remember that I guess."
Peter suddenly stopped walking, M.J. taking a couple of steps more before she noticed, turning around and coming up to him.
"Peter, what is it?"
"M.J...that's not as true as you think it is," he answered her.
She narrowed her eyes in confusion.
"What do you mean?" M.J. asked.
Glancing around, Peter took M.J. aside, moving the two of them just inside a nearby alley so that those passing them by would be less likely to hear more sensitive parts of their conversation. He had hoped to wait until they got back to one of their places to have this discussion, but he just couldn't hold it in anymore.
He clasped his hands together as he tried to figure out how to start.
"After Gwen died, I gave up being Spider-Man altogether for a while," Peter finally began. "I could hardly even look at the suit without...without thinking of that night. It took some time, but after five months, I was finally able to get back out there."
He paused for a moment; M.J. said nothing in response, prompting him to continue.
"I knew I hadn't beaten it yet, but I thought that I could at least begin to carry on," he explained. "You know, keep being that Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, the local hero that gives people hope."
"And you have," M.J. assured him.
Peter pursed his lips. He could feel his heart rate accelerate, worry starting to grip him even as he finally spoke up again.
"Not exactly," he said. "At least not right away. I did good at first, but after a while, I started to get more and more aggressive. Eventually, I stopped pulling my punches; I quit playing around with criminals, and I didn't care how badly I'd hurt them, so long as they were still alive when the police got there. I began to look for tougher opponents so that I could really let loose without fear of killing them. It took almost doing exactly that to get me to realize how far I'd fallen. That, and looking a civilian in the eyes for the first time in a while. I didn't see hope, I saw...fear."
Peter sniffed as he felt tears beginning to form in his eyes. By now, he was starting to become overwhelmed with shame.
"I was becoming the very thing that I swore to Uncle Ben that I'd fight against," he continued. "The people I was trying to protect, to inspire, were afraid of me. I was ashamed and I almost gave up the suit again; it took May helping me through it and encouraging me to make things right again to convince me to keep it. It took me years to earn back the trust of the people, and more than that, actually start to feel like myself again. But when Kraven took you, when he threatened your life, all that anger and rage...it came rushing back even worse than before. I was so determined to not lose you, to not lose the best thing in my life that I nearly lost myself in the process."
He looked into the eyes of his girlfriend; her look was undiscernible, which wasn't a huge surprise. This was probably a lot for her to process.
"M.J, I might've been that optimistic person once, and maybe on some level, it's still there. Most of the time, I'm able to be that Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man in the eyes of the people, but that anger, that bitterness, it's still in there. Maybe it always will be, I don't know. Sometimes, I'm not even sure that I'm the person you think I am."
M.J.'s expression remained the same, her silence becoming deafening.
"M.J, please say something," he choked out, fear starting to grow in his mind. Her look then softened, and she slowly wrapped her arms around him, pulling him into a tight hug. Peter found himself reciprocating the gesture, a couple tears escaping from his eyes as he did. They remained like that for a moment, before transitioning to leaning each other's foreheads together, her hands rubbing the sides of his head and his hair.
"I know exactly who you are," M.J. finally spoke up, looking him in the eye with an expression of grace, but also conviction. "I was there, I saw how you handled it. You're the person who felt all those things, who had every reason to take that man's life, but still chose not to. You're the person who protects life at all costs and always makes the choice to help others, even if it's at the expense of yourself. Spider-Man might be the hero to the city, but Peter Parker...he's my hero. That's who you are to me."
A relief washed over Peter, replacing his fear and concern from before. He was so worried that this conversation might be what finally pushes M.J. away from him for good. Instead, she had shown him love and understanding as he confessed the darkest parts of his life to her. He drew her close, planting a deep kiss on her lips. He felt her hand immediately come up and rest against the back of his head, possibly to hold herself steady due to the sudden and strong nature of his display of affection. He pulled her even closer, the two of them soaking each other in.
When they finally separated, Peter was completely lovestruck as he looked into her eyes.
"I love you," he said, "and I definitely don't deserve you."
"I love you too, Tiger," she replied, an infectious smile gracing her face. "As for that second part, well, let's just say I won't argue."
The two of them laughed at her response, the world around them basically ceasing to exist as they gazed into each other's eyes. Peter decided at that moment that there would be nothing that would hold him back this time; tonight, he would finally propo...
Spider sense.
Peter pushed M.J. back before spinning out of the way just in time to avoid the oncoming danger from above. Positioning himself between it and Mary Jane, he watched as the threat slowly glanced up from its crouched position, revealing the face of Kraven.
"M.J, go!" he urged her.
"Peter, I'm not..."
"GOOO!" he yelled.
She finally adhered to his advice, exiting the alley and taking off down the street. With M.J. out of danger, Peter turned to face his enemy, bracing himself for yet another fight.
Not quite as long as I'd intended, but this seemed like a decent stopping point. The next chapter, if all plays out as I currently intend it to, will be longer and quite explosive as we near the end of the story.
Shout again to all of you who've been following this story, especially to those who have commented and shared their thoughts. You all have been amazing (pun completely intended, obviously) and I am beyond grateful for your support. I hope I deliver an ending to this story worthy of it! Regardless, this story is NOT the end of this series though. I have more planned, some of which I will discuss more in the notes of the final chapter.
In any case, thanks again!
Continuing to pray for you all; stay safe and healthy!
"'Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord." Leviticus 19:18