**A/N**: "OK no killing the author here after you read this chapter, it gets kind of sad and breaks off to a point. I'm writing the next chapter already for it so you'll have to wait and see what happens. If it sounds like I rushed this part I apologize."
Disclaimer: Still don't own marvel or sony and its characters. Thankyou.
Awaking to a feeling of suffocation is not a great thing. At least Peter didn't think so when he began to try to breathe in through the restriction of his mask. His eyes were still closed but he knew it was morning by feeling the sun on his back from the window nearby. He yawned softly not caring that his mask was still on, smiling to himself he thought to himself that he loved the dream he had, that he had visited Mary Jane last night after the carnival and ended up falling asleep with her in his arms.
'Hahaha, funny, Parker. You know that'd never happen.' He thought, except he opened his eyes. There were just lying only a few inches from him laid his red headed goddess who he had been in love with since a child. Her head was on the same pillow he was, her face just inches from him, with a leg entwined with one of his. He could only blink, wondering if this was real. Hearing her sigh and move her leg slightly in her sound sleep was enough to assure him it was real. His body tensed as he felt her leg rub against him, making him very nervous and excited all at once. 'Oh crap!' He gulped. 'This definitely cannot be reality. Oh no, you fell asleep here…did she pull up my mask while I was asleep?' He questioned himself. Who was he kidding, if she has not only would she have awoken him with her discovery but also have kicked him out of her apartment for sure. He also trusted her; she would never betray her confidence in a person. If he trusted her why didn't he tell her what was really going on? It was too complicated for him. He loved her with all his heart, with all his fiber of being and he couldn't let her get close. When he heard her say those words that day in the commentary that he had been longing to hear it nearly killed him to have to say he couldn't be anything more than a friend. All he could do was angst about wanting to be with her when he had too much responsibility to endanger her life. It was a constant whirlpool. He'd have to stop that; he'd have to break off complete contact with her soon just to make sure that nothing would happen to her. 'That's not what a friend does.' He told himself, his mind battling the pros and cons back and forth.
"M.J. are you in?" A females voice called from the apartment. Spidey/Peter shot his head up to the Mary Jane's closed door not knowing if it was locked or not. He wasn't willing to risk it and this would be the best chance to slip out. He looked at Mary Jane, tangled up in both the sheets and his legs, wondering how he was going to move her without waking her up. Gritting his teeth he reached down to Mary Jane's leg that was wrapped around his and gently began to move her leg from around his and slowly back over onto the bed. She stirred slightly with a soft sigh, a smile creeping upon her lips. She was awake and he knew it. When someone was asleep their breathing and movement was completely different than that of being awake. Her chest no longer rose and fell in a rhythmic movement, and her long slender fingers began to tap on the mattress.
'Ha, very sneaky M.J.' However he was very skilled in getting out of places without a single sound and perhaps he could sneak out before she woke up.
"M.J. your door is locked c'mon let me in." The girl prodded trying to open the door with a few knocks put in as well.
Mary Jane had a feeling he was here. At first she thought it was a dream until she felt movement beside her, felt the warmth from his body as he shifted his weight and moved her away from him. She could care less about getting up to open the door for her roommate; she wanted to open her eyes to see for herself that he was here. She fluttered her eyes open searching for the familiar red and blue of the hero.
Before her eyes opened he made sure that he was out the window and back clinging to the wall looking down at the streets below him. He was playing a dangerous game, and this time he was lucky. "I'm sorry Mary Jane." He whispered before letting himself free-fall from the ledge, soaring towards the streets and then firing a gossamer string of webbing at a building's ledge pulling himself up into the air before hitting a cab and far from her apartment.
* * * *
Harry glanced at the OsCorp lab that he was just notified even existed. He felt very odd to be dressed in a business suit that his very own father used to sport while in charge of the company. Now Harry was in charge while being coached by a personal friend and partner of the family. It just seemed like something he had never really wanted for his life, he wasn't like his father but he had no choice. His father had worked very hard to get this far and here Harry was to continue on his legacy just as he had asked of him. He had hired other scientists to help his new ally "Mysterio" on developing some sort of weapon against the indestructible Spider-man. Well he wouldn't be indestructible for long. Soon he would be dead like planned and Harry would be able to get on with his life accompanied with his best friend Peter Parker who he would in the future get him a better job and better apartment or suite instead of their drafty loft in the city. Peter had been the only person who even cared about him; let him be who he really was instead of expecting him to be someone else. Sure Mary Jane had fallen in love with Peter which in turn broke Harry's heart making him think that Peter stole her away but nothing had happened between the two in terms of romance since then. With Spider-man gone Harry would also be able to pursue a better relationship with Mary Jane. There were just too many things to list of what good would come with Spider-man's demise.
Harry now looked at the man who had approached him at the carnival the other night, he had the dome off his head just remaining in the armored suit testing chemicals together for his secret potion or whatever it was he was making. The man had long blonde hair pulled tightly back into a ponytail, and by his face he seemed like he was in his 30's. If it wasn't by the expression on his face he wouldn't seem like the type that would be a mastermind villain, if he was so smart why did he resolve to being a killer? He had designed gadgets like hologram emitters, smoke bombs, and other miscellaneous things that he had not even heard of. Harry had done his research and found out that Mysterio's real name was Quentin Beck. He had worked in the movie and stage department several years back designing all the special effects for a particular movie or play, it wouldn't specify all too much. He did something disastrous with the effects causing several deaths and the lead's disappearance. He was caught and arrested for the act sent to jail. It wasn't too long after that he escaped from jail without a trace. Until now…
"If you're caught you have to remember that you will not tell them who has been supplying you the funding and lab to create your weapons, you know that right?" Harry said crossing the room to Quentin with a dead serious look on his face. The man nodded frustrated.
"Ditto goes for you kid. I'm not the only one who is at stake of being found out. Some people are pretty smart in putting 2 and 2 together and you'll be caught as well." He studied a red liquid vial in his hands and handed it to a scientist to have tested.
"Going anywhere tonight young Master?" He said in a mock tone looking at Harry.
Harry snorted annoyed with Quentin's rude humor.
"There's a play over near Broadway, a friend of mine is doing the second half of the play they had last night. I promised her I'd come to cheer her on." He said searching his pockets for his ticket.
Quentin froze in place and turned to look at Harry with a devious smile. "Was she the little red head girl that Spider-man saved last night?" He said in a tone that made Harry want to question his motive.
"Yeah that was her, why?" He asked suspiciously narrowing his eyes in an untrusting manner.
"No reason, just wondering. Go have fun at the little play and be ready to strike soon." He said turning his back going back to his formula. "I'll discuss a plan with you later on." With that he seemed to dismiss Harry from the lab entirely. With a shrug Harry turned and walked out of the lab wondering what Mysterio was up to.
* * *
Peter looked at his answering machine with a pale expression. He had too many messages to check for that day, he could already guess some of the people who had left him a message. Aunt May probably to ask him how his date went with Felicia, J.J.J asking about the pictures from the Coney Island Carnival and shots of the play, Felicia asking about Peter dropping her off so soon last night, Harry probably called asking him where he went after climbing down the roller coaster. Which in Peter's mind that was a very dumb thing to do with thousands of people in watch. He stopped wondering if M.J. was amongst the people who left him a message, his finger lingered over the button to play the messages and he finally pressed the button leaning against the wall. Sure enough he heard Aunt May's voice accompanied by Mary Jane's Aunt Anna who was asking about what happened with her niece. Jonah did call and sounded rather pissed off that Peter didn't stop by that morning to drop off the photos. 'He's never heard of the weekend I take it.' Peter grumbled to himself. Then he heard the voice he had desired to hear.
"Hi Tiger its MJ. I want to apologize for acting like an idiot last night, it's none of my business whom you date and I didn't have the right to be so rude to you and your date. To make it up to you I brought over a free ticket to come see me tonight. It should be under your door, please come tonight I really need to talk to you. It should clear everything up. Well, bye." By the end of the message Peter had already grabbed his coat and headed out the door to see the marvelous Mary Jane Watson on stage to hear her out, and to tell her he could never see her again.
* * * * *
Nervously Mary Jane paced in her cramped dressing room that was given to her out of pity in the last minute. She would be performing in front of a larger audience than the night before and this was the last half of the play. This was also the night she would finally have a real conversation with Peter, she would try to get him to open up to her.
"Riiiight." She emphasized 'right' to herself. "Like Peter Parker would open up to me." Her nerves felt right on edge like she sensed that, that night wouldn't go by so great. She took deep breaths shaking her hands out and rolling her shoulders. A sharp knock on the door beside her stopped her wary thoughts. One of the company's aides poked his head in.
"Miss Watson, these flowers came for you." He said carrying in a vase filled with roses covered in pink wrapping.
"Thanks. Do they need me for the rest of rehearsal?"
"Nope, Miss Watson. They just want you to be ready to take stage in 10." The aide said before disappearing out of the room again. Mary Jane walked over to the vase taking the card from the side.
"Observe life with a critical eye because we do not know for sure when it will all be taken away from us. You are like a preserved rose of the city, untouched, a woman with unfathomable depth. Keep the rose from the winter cold, for if we do not they whither and die…"
Mary Jane stood in silence staring at the note in wonderment and confusion, wondering what it meant. There was no sign of identification of the person who wrote it. Setting the card down she decided to unwrap the flowers to see what type they were, although 'roses' sprung to mind she wanted to be certain. The plastic wrapping was stuck tight causing Mary Jane to use her nails. The wrapping gave way and large thorn impaled deeply into M.J.'s thumb. Dark crimson blood began to flow down her hand and onto the desk. Whimpering, Mary Jane grabbed a tissue and tied it tightly around her thumb. She never thought that a mere thorn could hurt so much. Furrowing her brows she pulled off the wrapping looking at a bunch of dead roses, the thorns however were oddly…alive. Covered in her blood. Grunting, she knocked the dead bouquet into the trash not giving it another thought. It was time for her to hit the stage and for the show to begin.
As Katharina she walked on stage with Petruchio for the dinner scene, yet she didn't feel altogether for some reason. She could spot Aunt May, Aunt Anna, her mother, Harry and Peter all in the front row smiling up at her but still something was wrong. When it came time to recite her lines she did so will perfection ignoring any odd feeling she was getting. Then the lights swung down from the ceiling just missing her by a few inches, odd purple smoke rising from them. The performers shielded their faces coughing, dusting the smoke away. Out from the crowd Peter knew that this wasn't part of the play, his spider-sense was going crazy and he searched the rafters for the person who knocked the lights down. A shadow disappeared just in time before being caught.
"Improv! Improv!" The director hissed from behind the curtains as the smoke cleared away. The others nodded going into their lines and then it came time to Mary Jane's part. As she stood there gazing out at the audience one would think that nothing was wrong. It looked as if she had forgotten her simple line. "Bid them aiduie." The director said only loud enough for her.
As she stood there Mary Jane was only able to blink her green eyes, opening her mouth but nothing coming out. The world was becoming cold to her, and dark. The very air stolen from her and everything came to a crashing halt as she tried to move.
Peter stared up at Mary Jane knowing that something was wrong. Her face had suddenly gone pale, even her lips were turning blue. Panic and fear took ahold of him as her body fell lifelessly to the ground, eyes closed tightly and hands unclenched. The crowd sat in their seats not sure of how to react to this. The other performers rushed to M.J.'s side bending over her checking for a pulse. The one she came on stage with looked up suddenly towards the director who stood behind the curtains, with a look of both fear and confusion.
"She's dead! Sir, she's dead!"
** ** ** ** ** ** **
A/N: "Eek don't kill me hehe but it's the end of this chapter. Yes there's more to come, you've got to see what is in store. Look forward to seeing Spider-man in a very pissy mood, he's gonna kick some ass!"