14
A small nip at her ankle woke Mary Jane up. She was tied to a chair, not unusual, and next to her in the same situation was Nicole. They were in the old warehouse. The nip had been a rat. She looked down. The rat scurried away, a scary green gleam to its eyes. Her gaze settled on the small gash on her ankle, streaming blood.
"Eew," MJ tried not to make too much noise. Nicole was crying loudly, not on the same wavelength as her old friend.
"They've come back for us, MJ! They're going to kill us!" MJ could now keep calm.
"No. It's okay. Chill. Spider-Man will save us, Nic. Just chill. Breathe." Nicole took in unsteady breaths. No matter what Mary Jane did, she didn't have a hope in hell of calming Nic down. Swoosh.
"What was that?" Mary Jane whispered huskily. Her throat hurt and tasted of blood.
"Don't ask me!" replied Nicole. A figure walked towards them. The hazy afternoon light caught on the contours of the person's body. Red, purple and black web design. MJ wanted to scream, but she couldn't, for Nicole's sake.
"Spider-Woman," said Mary Jane quietly, hoping not to let the awe and fright come out in her voice but failing. Spider-Woman stood in the light. Her eyepieces glinted like coins.
"Yes, Mary Jane. We meet again. Let's just hope your boyfriend doesn't come and save you again." Spider-Woman cracked her knuckles.
"Boyfriend?" mouthed Nicole. MJ didn't notice her.
"Spider-Man will save us, Spider-Woman," Mary Jane put all her eggs into that one basket of a sentence. Spider-Woman laughed.
"You won't have any excitement left in your life, Mary Jane, if you keep counting on Spider-Man!" She tapped where her mouth was with a long elegant finger. "Can you keep a secret?" She stepped right into Nicole's space, which set her crying again. "Will you promise not to tell?"
"What is it, tell us now!" said Nicole, choking on her tears.
"Ooh! Interested are we? Be patient. All will be revealed." She reached for the bottom of her mask. She turned her back to them, curling the mask up. Pulling it off, a cascade of blonde hair fell to her waist. She turned around.
"Liz?" gasped Mary Jane. "You look great."
"That's what extra DNA does for you." MJ couldn't piece it together. "Clueless, as usual. Come come, Mary Jane. You don't think Peter was the only one to be bitten by that pesky spider on the field trip, did you?"
"PETER?" Nicole shouted. Liz shot a web round her mouth. It kept her quiet. Liz took off her glove and showed MJ the back of her hand. A small red bite scar, angry and throbbing, was situated below her thumb.
"You see, I was watching Peter take pictures of you," she spat out 'you', "I've loved him for longer than you, missy, don't forget that. There you were, showing off and then deserted him with her." She glared at Nicole.
"He was so upset. Then he looked as though something had pinched him. He walked away. I went over to where he had been standing and then I saw the poor thing. It's purple and red, you know." She twirled in her outfit.
"Appropriate, huh? I picked the little beast up. It had broken one of its legs. I was putting it back in the cage when it bit me. It was obviously hungry. I dropped the spider, wincing at the pain of it. After the field trip, I felt sick. I didn't see a doctor! Crazy!" MJ could certainly agree with that.
"I fainted and woke up alive. I thought the spider toxin would kill me but I must have sweated it out. I reached for my glasses but I could see perfectly without them! Thus the lie with contacts. Then I caught a look at myself in the mirror. My teeth were straight and white, my puppy fat had disappeared and I'd gone up a bra size! My legs were toned and my spots had healed. All in one night, I kept saying to myself. Action was needed. I cut off the long hem of my skirt, brushed my hair into a fashionable style, and stole a pair of my mum's high heels. I looked fantastic for the first time in my life. I thought I'd finally be accepted. Not only beautiful but brainy, too. I'd be popular.
"I got onto the bus. Did anybody notice? No. But MJ Watson, the girl who I've hated for years will notice! No, you got in the car. But Peter would notice. Then I saw him running alongside the bus again. His glasses were gone too and he had buffed up. All in one night, I thought again. It dawned on me that because all of his changes and mine had happened overnight, perhaps it was something to do with the bite. The spider!" she clicked her fingers.
"We were both bitten by the spider. But the bus was too fast for him and he had to walk to school. Nobody noticed in our first three classes. Even one of them was with Peter! I was in the cafeteria and I saw you in the queue. I planned a little 'slip' and spilled my juice on the floor. Surely I'd get 'braniac' shouted or something like that but NOTHING." Liz tightened her fist.
"I sat down just behind Peter, getting a good view of him and you slipping up. I got the blur for the first time in my life. The 'spider-sense' the woman had been talking about. I looked at you and you had slipped up, but Peter caught you. I swore to myself. He stared at you and held you the way I had wanted him to hold me so many times." Liz drifted off, her eyes narrowing into a squint. She shook her head and continued with her story.
"Then I saw him with the fork. It had stuck to his hand. I looked at my wrist. A small white spot had formed," Liz showed it to MJ. She was understating. It was huge. "I decided to check it out later. Without any warning, a string of webbing had stuck to my tray. I ducked and it went flying over my head. It hit Flash. You laughed but Flash was angry. He turned round but Peter had already left the cafeteria. There was going to be a fight. I watched the whole thing. It was amazing. Truly amazing." She paused.
"After grad, I decided to move to the city. I was working quietly when one day, Harry phones me. He said he needed some help. I was to help him get back at you. He knew I wanted revenge as well so I agreed. I told him everything on the phone. He knew about me! He also actually knew who Spider- Man was! I couldn't believe it. I had had suspicions but nothing actually confirmed them. Now here was proof." She laughed and stared at MJ's face. "And that's when we met for the first time, Mary Jane."
"You're mad!" MJ didn't want to believe anything.
"No, I'm not. But Harry was. He had been taking his father's 'potions' as he called them. They made him into ickle Gween Goblin Jr.," she laughed. "We had a deal. Get back at you, get back at Spider-Man. Harry was supposed to be guarding you but he snapped out of the potion's haze and drove home, allowing Spider-Man," Liz turned to Nicole. "Or Peter, to rescue you. I was very angry, Mary Jane. He had no clue. He had some clue on the day of the fair though. I met Peter who was too late. I got my revenge." Her eyes were glowing. MJ's head was spinning.
"You killed him! Why?" MJ whispered; the tears she thought she had shed for Harry long ago were returning to her, thick and fast. Why could she do such a thing?
"Because he broke his promise!" she yelled. "And now my revenge on you two. Nicole Von Rapp and Mary Jane Watson. The two most popular girls in the school who wouldn't notice me even if I was bitten by a genetically-altered spider and my whole image changed! Which did happen!" Liz took a gun from the floor and pointed it at Nicole's head. "I don't like you much, Mary Jane, so you watch her die." Liz talked to Nicole. "I like you more because your mom was nice. You can die first." She was preparing her gun when one of the windows shattered.
"PETER!" MJ and Nicole screamed, or muffled, in unison. Peter kicked the gun out of Nicole's hand, sending it to an insane rat, which set the gun off and killed itself.
"Bad girl, Liz," She swiped at him twice, failing both times. "But I do agree with you using your pawns first. Like Harry, huh? What did he do to you?" She kicked up at his head and managed to hit his mouth. Peter staggered back a little. He thought he heard MJ gasp.
"He betrayed me!" she said, her hair straggled across her face.
"By doing what? Huh, Liz?" Peter clutched at his bleeding mouth, the blood saturating his mask.
"By doing what you didn't do! Protecting his queen!" She punched him in the shoulder. Liz obviously hadn't heard of 'never kicking a Spider-Man when he's down. "She may be useful and the most powerful piece on the board but you're helpless without her." Peter didn't hit back. She smiled. "Face it, Pete." She took off his bloody mask. "I'm the more powerful piece now. I should be your queen." Liz pulled him in and kissed him, the blood mixing in their mouths. Peter grabbed her by the hair and pulled her off him. She screamed and tripped up.
"Forget it, Liz. There's only one true queen in the set." Peter glanced over at MJ. A low moan came from the floor. Liz was crying. Peter knelt down beside her and held her head.
"Hmm. You were always a gentleman Peter." Liz coughed. "You didn't actually hit me. I hit you though." She cried harder. "I'm sorry, Peter. I'm sorry I didn't let you sit next to me on the bus. I'm sorry for when I beat you at chess that time. I'm sorry for when I spilled juice over your shirt. I'm sorry for what I did to her." She pointed weakly at MJ. "I love you Peter. I never had the guts to tell you." She kissed him again, weakly.
"I'm sorry Liz," Peter felt he could give her a sensitive rejection because he was getting pretty used to, and hopefully good at them, by now. "I don't love you."
"I thought you'd understand," she said, her voice becoming quieter and quieter.
"I'm sorry," Peter sighed. How could gentle, silly Liz be so stupid? She laughed but then coughed.
"Check, I guess," Her eyes closed. Peter checked her pulse as sirens wailed. She was alive, just unconscious.
"Who called the police?" he asked MJ, as he untied and kissed her at the same time.
"Nicole," Peter looked at Nicole's chair. She had fainted. "She stayed awake more than me." Peter embraced MJ and breathed in that flowery smell of her hair and her skin. He had come so close to losing her again, he had been so thoughtless. ~They love to see a hero fall, you know ~ a broken heart ~ dead friend ~ dead soulmate ~ it's all good ~ remember what they say ~ listen ~ S-p-I-d-e-r-m-A-n. ~
"Let's get out of here," Peter shuddered and grabbed onto MJ. He shot a web into the distance, letting the police take Liz away and revive Nicole. He pulled them up and they were flying; they were soaring above the clouds. Together. Alive.
"Hey mom, hey dad," said Peter, smiling. MJ looked at him sleepily.
"You talk to your parents?"
"Yes. It helps me not to miss them so much." Peter smiled as though he'd just spotted someone he hadn't seen for years. "Yo, Uncle Ben!" MJ laughed.
"Let me try." She cleared her throat. "Harry? You up there? I'm sorry if I hurt you. We had a great time but I'm with Peter now."
"Anyone else? We'll be home soon." Peter's apartment was in sight. "I don't want to rush you or anything but I don't want to crash into a wall right now." MJ smiled and nodded.
"Hi Peter. Don't cry. You're in heaven now. I love you." She cried a little into Peter's shoulder.
"I'm not in heaven although it feels like it. I'm not crying, either." Peter set them down inside his apartment and put his arms round her waist.
"Not you." She felt her stomach. "Peter."
"You'd have called him after me?" Peter's heart skipped a beat. She nodded. He pressed her against him and held her tightly. Her flowery smell filled his brain again. "I love you MJ."
"I love you too, Peter."
A small nip at her ankle woke Mary Jane up. She was tied to a chair, not unusual, and next to her in the same situation was Nicole. They were in the old warehouse. The nip had been a rat. She looked down. The rat scurried away, a scary green gleam to its eyes. Her gaze settled on the small gash on her ankle, streaming blood.
"Eew," MJ tried not to make too much noise. Nicole was crying loudly, not on the same wavelength as her old friend.
"They've come back for us, MJ! They're going to kill us!" MJ could now keep calm.
"No. It's okay. Chill. Spider-Man will save us, Nic. Just chill. Breathe." Nicole took in unsteady breaths. No matter what Mary Jane did, she didn't have a hope in hell of calming Nic down. Swoosh.
"What was that?" Mary Jane whispered huskily. Her throat hurt and tasted of blood.
"Don't ask me!" replied Nicole. A figure walked towards them. The hazy afternoon light caught on the contours of the person's body. Red, purple and black web design. MJ wanted to scream, but she couldn't, for Nicole's sake.
"Spider-Woman," said Mary Jane quietly, hoping not to let the awe and fright come out in her voice but failing. Spider-Woman stood in the light. Her eyepieces glinted like coins.
"Yes, Mary Jane. We meet again. Let's just hope your boyfriend doesn't come and save you again." Spider-Woman cracked her knuckles.
"Boyfriend?" mouthed Nicole. MJ didn't notice her.
"Spider-Man will save us, Spider-Woman," Mary Jane put all her eggs into that one basket of a sentence. Spider-Woman laughed.
"You won't have any excitement left in your life, Mary Jane, if you keep counting on Spider-Man!" She tapped where her mouth was with a long elegant finger. "Can you keep a secret?" She stepped right into Nicole's space, which set her crying again. "Will you promise not to tell?"
"What is it, tell us now!" said Nicole, choking on her tears.
"Ooh! Interested are we? Be patient. All will be revealed." She reached for the bottom of her mask. She turned her back to them, curling the mask up. Pulling it off, a cascade of blonde hair fell to her waist. She turned around.
"Liz?" gasped Mary Jane. "You look great."
"That's what extra DNA does for you." MJ couldn't piece it together. "Clueless, as usual. Come come, Mary Jane. You don't think Peter was the only one to be bitten by that pesky spider on the field trip, did you?"
"PETER?" Nicole shouted. Liz shot a web round her mouth. It kept her quiet. Liz took off her glove and showed MJ the back of her hand. A small red bite scar, angry and throbbing, was situated below her thumb.
"You see, I was watching Peter take pictures of you," she spat out 'you', "I've loved him for longer than you, missy, don't forget that. There you were, showing off and then deserted him with her." She glared at Nicole.
"He was so upset. Then he looked as though something had pinched him. He walked away. I went over to where he had been standing and then I saw the poor thing. It's purple and red, you know." She twirled in her outfit.
"Appropriate, huh? I picked the little beast up. It had broken one of its legs. I was putting it back in the cage when it bit me. It was obviously hungry. I dropped the spider, wincing at the pain of it. After the field trip, I felt sick. I didn't see a doctor! Crazy!" MJ could certainly agree with that.
"I fainted and woke up alive. I thought the spider toxin would kill me but I must have sweated it out. I reached for my glasses but I could see perfectly without them! Thus the lie with contacts. Then I caught a look at myself in the mirror. My teeth were straight and white, my puppy fat had disappeared and I'd gone up a bra size! My legs were toned and my spots had healed. All in one night, I kept saying to myself. Action was needed. I cut off the long hem of my skirt, brushed my hair into a fashionable style, and stole a pair of my mum's high heels. I looked fantastic for the first time in my life. I thought I'd finally be accepted. Not only beautiful but brainy, too. I'd be popular.
"I got onto the bus. Did anybody notice? No. But MJ Watson, the girl who I've hated for years will notice! No, you got in the car. But Peter would notice. Then I saw him running alongside the bus again. His glasses were gone too and he had buffed up. All in one night, I thought again. It dawned on me that because all of his changes and mine had happened overnight, perhaps it was something to do with the bite. The spider!" she clicked her fingers.
"We were both bitten by the spider. But the bus was too fast for him and he had to walk to school. Nobody noticed in our first three classes. Even one of them was with Peter! I was in the cafeteria and I saw you in the queue. I planned a little 'slip' and spilled my juice on the floor. Surely I'd get 'braniac' shouted or something like that but NOTHING." Liz tightened her fist.
"I sat down just behind Peter, getting a good view of him and you slipping up. I got the blur for the first time in my life. The 'spider-sense' the woman had been talking about. I looked at you and you had slipped up, but Peter caught you. I swore to myself. He stared at you and held you the way I had wanted him to hold me so many times." Liz drifted off, her eyes narrowing into a squint. She shook her head and continued with her story.
"Then I saw him with the fork. It had stuck to his hand. I looked at my wrist. A small white spot had formed," Liz showed it to MJ. She was understating. It was huge. "I decided to check it out later. Without any warning, a string of webbing had stuck to my tray. I ducked and it went flying over my head. It hit Flash. You laughed but Flash was angry. He turned round but Peter had already left the cafeteria. There was going to be a fight. I watched the whole thing. It was amazing. Truly amazing." She paused.
"After grad, I decided to move to the city. I was working quietly when one day, Harry phones me. He said he needed some help. I was to help him get back at you. He knew I wanted revenge as well so I agreed. I told him everything on the phone. He knew about me! He also actually knew who Spider- Man was! I couldn't believe it. I had had suspicions but nothing actually confirmed them. Now here was proof." She laughed and stared at MJ's face. "And that's when we met for the first time, Mary Jane."
"You're mad!" MJ didn't want to believe anything.
"No, I'm not. But Harry was. He had been taking his father's 'potions' as he called them. They made him into ickle Gween Goblin Jr.," she laughed. "We had a deal. Get back at you, get back at Spider-Man. Harry was supposed to be guarding you but he snapped out of the potion's haze and drove home, allowing Spider-Man," Liz turned to Nicole. "Or Peter, to rescue you. I was very angry, Mary Jane. He had no clue. He had some clue on the day of the fair though. I met Peter who was too late. I got my revenge." Her eyes were glowing. MJ's head was spinning.
"You killed him! Why?" MJ whispered; the tears she thought she had shed for Harry long ago were returning to her, thick and fast. Why could she do such a thing?
"Because he broke his promise!" she yelled. "And now my revenge on you two. Nicole Von Rapp and Mary Jane Watson. The two most popular girls in the school who wouldn't notice me even if I was bitten by a genetically-altered spider and my whole image changed! Which did happen!" Liz took a gun from the floor and pointed it at Nicole's head. "I don't like you much, Mary Jane, so you watch her die." Liz talked to Nicole. "I like you more because your mom was nice. You can die first." She was preparing her gun when one of the windows shattered.
"PETER!" MJ and Nicole screamed, or muffled, in unison. Peter kicked the gun out of Nicole's hand, sending it to an insane rat, which set the gun off and killed itself.
"Bad girl, Liz," She swiped at him twice, failing both times. "But I do agree with you using your pawns first. Like Harry, huh? What did he do to you?" She kicked up at his head and managed to hit his mouth. Peter staggered back a little. He thought he heard MJ gasp.
"He betrayed me!" she said, her hair straggled across her face.
"By doing what? Huh, Liz?" Peter clutched at his bleeding mouth, the blood saturating his mask.
"By doing what you didn't do! Protecting his queen!" She punched him in the shoulder. Liz obviously hadn't heard of 'never kicking a Spider-Man when he's down. "She may be useful and the most powerful piece on the board but you're helpless without her." Peter didn't hit back. She smiled. "Face it, Pete." She took off his bloody mask. "I'm the more powerful piece now. I should be your queen." Liz pulled him in and kissed him, the blood mixing in their mouths. Peter grabbed her by the hair and pulled her off him. She screamed and tripped up.
"Forget it, Liz. There's only one true queen in the set." Peter glanced over at MJ. A low moan came from the floor. Liz was crying. Peter knelt down beside her and held her head.
"Hmm. You were always a gentleman Peter." Liz coughed. "You didn't actually hit me. I hit you though." She cried harder. "I'm sorry, Peter. I'm sorry I didn't let you sit next to me on the bus. I'm sorry for when I beat you at chess that time. I'm sorry for when I spilled juice over your shirt. I'm sorry for what I did to her." She pointed weakly at MJ. "I love you Peter. I never had the guts to tell you." She kissed him again, weakly.
"I'm sorry Liz," Peter felt he could give her a sensitive rejection because he was getting pretty used to, and hopefully good at them, by now. "I don't love you."
"I thought you'd understand," she said, her voice becoming quieter and quieter.
"I'm sorry," Peter sighed. How could gentle, silly Liz be so stupid? She laughed but then coughed.
"Check, I guess," Her eyes closed. Peter checked her pulse as sirens wailed. She was alive, just unconscious.
"Who called the police?" he asked MJ, as he untied and kissed her at the same time.
"Nicole," Peter looked at Nicole's chair. She had fainted. "She stayed awake more than me." Peter embraced MJ and breathed in that flowery smell of her hair and her skin. He had come so close to losing her again, he had been so thoughtless. ~They love to see a hero fall, you know ~ a broken heart ~ dead friend ~ dead soulmate ~ it's all good ~ remember what they say ~ listen ~ S-p-I-d-e-r-m-A-n. ~
"Let's get out of here," Peter shuddered and grabbed onto MJ. He shot a web into the distance, letting the police take Liz away and revive Nicole. He pulled them up and they were flying; they were soaring above the clouds. Together. Alive.
"Hey mom, hey dad," said Peter, smiling. MJ looked at him sleepily.
"You talk to your parents?"
"Yes. It helps me not to miss them so much." Peter smiled as though he'd just spotted someone he hadn't seen for years. "Yo, Uncle Ben!" MJ laughed.
"Let me try." She cleared her throat. "Harry? You up there? I'm sorry if I hurt you. We had a great time but I'm with Peter now."
"Anyone else? We'll be home soon." Peter's apartment was in sight. "I don't want to rush you or anything but I don't want to crash into a wall right now." MJ smiled and nodded.
"Hi Peter. Don't cry. You're in heaven now. I love you." She cried a little into Peter's shoulder.
"I'm not in heaven although it feels like it. I'm not crying, either." Peter set them down inside his apartment and put his arms round her waist.
"Not you." She felt her stomach. "Peter."
"You'd have called him after me?" Peter's heart skipped a beat. She nodded. He pressed her against him and held her tightly. Her flowery smell filled his brain again. "I love you MJ."
"I love you too, Peter."
