by: Satine16
Disclaimer: None of the characters belong to me, they are all property of MARVEL comics. I am not doing this to make money, so please don't sue me.
Chapter 9: Bloodshed
Peter's blood was boiling, his heart pounding. The repercussions of the possibility that he would arrive seconds too late terrified him. Each flying swing he took was faster than the last, and with each foot he traveled he became more accustomed to a fact he had hidden since the day of Gwen's death. Peter Parker was deeply in love with Mary Jane Watson. So much so, that life without her was unimaginable. The cold night air whipped against the tight fitting mask and suit. His reflection blurred in the mirror like windows of a skyscraper in the moonlight. Six more blocks to go.
Harry hovered outside her window, watching her as she slept. The moonlight made her beautiful. She had always been beautiful: stupid, but pretty. The glider continued to float as Harry stepped onto the small balcony and mentally scoffed at her apartment. His breath grew heavy, and a smile stretched across his face. Killing this one would be the most fun of them all.
Mary Jane tossed in her bed. The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end. Deep within the pit of her stomach she knew that something was wrong. Closing her eyes tightly, she tried to eliminate the invasive moonlight from impeding her sleep. That was when she heard him. The gentle ruffle of fabric, and the slight change in the atmosphere alerted her to his presence. Like a knife in the dark night she jolted from her sleep to a sitting position, to stare straight into his wicked yellow eyes.
"Oh my God," she exhaled, terrified.
"Hello, my dear," his voice was high, cruel and utterly disturbing.
In one motion Mary Jane attempted to make a run for it. The door was mere feet away. Just as her fingers grazed the doorknob she was thrown to the floor. His immense weight was pushing on her chest, his right foot lodged on her ribcage. The oxygen in the room seemed to suddenly fade, and her vision began to go black.
"Oh no, Ms. Watson, it won't be that easy. I want you to suffer," his hard fist cracked across her face, hitting her square in the cheekbone. The wound bled and began to swell immediately. Grabbing her around the waist, the Goblin threw her into the wall and pinned her there. "We're gonna take this nice and slow, until you cry for me to end your pain."
Mary Jane stiffened her quivering lower lip. "I didn't do anything to you."
"It's not you, I came to hurt Spider-Man."
"What?"
He smacked her again, and then said with some curiosity, "You don't know either. Well, that is—"
Suddenly the Goblin was on the floor and Mary was placed back on the bed. Unaware of what was really happening, Mary searched the room. The curtains blew in the wind and the light reached the upper left corner of her room. There he was, ready to act, looking as elegant as ever. Her hero.
"When a lady says no, it means no. Why do some guys just never understand that?" With a pounce from his perch he began to beat the Goblin, releasing the rage he had pent up against his enemy. Mary Jane's warning and a quick set of reflexes were all that saved him from death an instant later.
It was now the Goblin's turn. Showing little mercy he began to beat his opponent into submission, even as he reached the floor, kicking him hard and deep in the ribs. At the seventh blow Peter was able to catch his foot and throw him to his back, locking hands to the floor in a whirl of webbing.
"Get out of here."
"What about you?"
"I'll be fine. It's you I'm worried about. It won't take long for him to start up again."
"Just…LOOK OUT!" he was right, it didn't take long. Soon the Goblin was up and swinging. A gentle back flip from the foot of the bed to the ceiling created the mere millimeters that saved Peter from evisceration.
"Play nice!" swinging from his perch yet again, Peter locked the Goblin's head in-between his feet, dealing a few harsh kicks to the temple.
With a cruel wrench the Goblin tore Peter from the rafters and threw him to the floor, tearing open his side and his arm with a sharp steel blade.
Peter's skull crashed against the floor with a terrible force. The blood pouring from his wounds was warm and wet. The wounds themselves gave his flesh an incredibly painful burning sensation that sent him into an all too dreadful state of weakness. In that moment the Goblin lifted him to his eye level and dealt a few numbing blows directly to Peter's jaw and face.
"You never told her, Parker. How you've disappointed me," the cruel, awkward voice rang out through the air.
"Parker?" Mary Jane's voice came softly from behind him, "Peter?"
The goblin's plan worked, MJ's voice disoriented him enough to allow for another blow. The knife felt like white fire as it entered his hamstring and the quick elbow delivered right below his ribcage, conveniently close to his liver, momentarily crippled him long enough to allow the Goblin to remove his mask.
There he was: Peter Parker. Exposed to the entire world.
"Now, fair is fair, I will give you that," the Goblin continued to say, pacing in predatory circles around Peter's form, weakened and on his knees. "So, I'll show you my face as well," Harry slowly removed his helmet and grinned wickedly down at Peter's bloody form, and Mary Jane's terrified face. Lifting her from the bed Harry threw her to Peter's knees, where she lie motionless.
"Time to die superhero. Oh yeah, and after you're gone, she and I will have a little fun. One minute of torture for every day that I was robbed of my father because of you."
He raised the large blade and brought it down in a swift motion towards Peter's head, but Peter caught the blade between his hands. The pain of stopping the blade was immense, and the blood began to flow from his palms. But he pushed back with all his might. The fight was not over yet. Harry had underestimated him.
Bringing his legs around he caught Harry at his Achilles tendon and sent him to the floor. In one motion Harry tried to take the final blow, tried to decapitate Peter with one motion, but Peter was always the faster of the two. He moved and removed MJ from harm as Harry impaled himself upon his own blade.
Just as quickly Harry pulled the blade from his abdomen. Deep crimson blood escaped the large would, along with pink organ matter. The blood began to drip from Harry's lips and his eyes unfocused. The sputtering blood ran down his green frame and encircled his frame on the carpet. He fell forward like a rock, his face splashing in his own pool of blood.
"Peter?"
He turned to her now. Now that she knew the truth, he had to leave. She would be revolted. She would be in danger. Mary Jane knew the truth. That sentence kept running over and over in his mind, like a broken record telling him he had to leave.
"The neighbors heard the ruckus. They've called the police," sure enough the sirens could be heard as they approached, "Tell them that he attacked you," Peter slipped Harry's mask back on his bloody face. "They won't question it. You'll be the sixth that he's attempted this with. You'll have been defending yourself." He slipped his mask on and dove out of the window, using the last reserves of his energy.
"Peter?"