Peter and Kate continued traversing through the sewers, having deduced that it was likely the only way inside the dome. It didn't appear to have broken through the ground when it first came over the area, so it seemed like a logical idea. While Peter had spent many hours exploring New York's literal underbelly out of necessity, it was clear that his partner had not. He noticed she frequently would look down as rats scurried past them, and she scrunched her nose a lot. Kate hadn't said a word of complaint yet though, seemingly taking it like a champ. In a way, this impressed Peter, because it showed that she understood there was a job to do, and that was all there was to it.
Still, he couldn't help but speak up about the situation.
"First time?" he asked as he turned to her.
"In Manhattan's sewer system?" Kate questioned. "Yeah, definitely a first."
"If you're down here often enough, you get used to it," Peter replied. "Well, most of it. The smell gets a little less noticeable, but occasionally, you'll run across a spot where it's especially bad."
"Sounds like you have been here before, a lot," Kate observed. "What, you just come exploring down here for fun, or do you just want to say you've been to EVERY part of New York?"
"Ha, if it was the latter, I'd be perfectly content with staying above ground the whole time!" Peter exclaimed. "But you'd be surprised how many super villains or criminal groups end up going through the effort of making a secret lair or hideout down here."
"Really?" Kate asked. "I thought that was just in the movies."
"Oh no, it's very much a reality," Peter replied. "It's not one I understand, but it is."
"One thing I'll say: the amount of work it takes to make this city run is ridiculous," Kate said. "I don't think I ever realized how much I take things like fresh water for granted."
"Yeah," Peter concurred, "it has a way of shifting your perspective, for sure."
Silence fell over the duo as they continued traversing their way through Manhattan. They had opted to play it safe and go underground a decent distance from the furthest point in the dome, but if Peter's knowledge of the city was correct, they should be getting close by now. After a moment, however, Kate spoke up again.
"By the way, I just wanted to say that I thought you did good back there," she said. "You know, coming up with a plan and everything."
Peter paused for a moment, caught off guard by her statement.
"Oh, uh, thanks," he eventually replied, continuing along. "You had a good idea too, so I didn't do it alone."
"I guess it's just the only thing that made sense," Kate responded.
"Yeah," was all Peter could say in turn. The truth was that he'd tried his best to avoid thinking about the others ever since they all broke off into their duos and went off to their designated attack points. Riri and Amadeus were heading west to Los Angeles, and were the ones planned to come pick him and Kate up to meet with Sam and Eli, who had the furthest distance to travel as they were heading to Berlin, Germany. However, at the rate Sam had taken off, Peter had no doubt they would make it faster than not.
Still, Peter was nervous now that they were all separated. While they each had communication devices, they had never been tested over distances nearly that large, so he had no real idea of how well he'd be able to keep up with them. He was also second guessing if he should've split them up differently. Had he mixed their respective power levels appropriately to give each of them a fair chance? For instance, keeping Riri and Amadeus together seemed like the best choice considering how well they seemed to know each other, but they were also likely the two most powerful in the group overall. Had it been a mistake to keep them together?
Peter tried his best to shake these thoughts out of his mind. It proved easier said than done, but at the same time, he and Kate had their own job to do right now, and that had to take primary focus.
Suddenly, Peter stopped, holding his arm out to stop Kate as well.
"What is it?" Kate asked.
"I hear something?" Peter replied.
Silence again fell between them momentarily.
"I don't hear anything," Kate added after a moment.
"I do," Peter said. "I think it's the rumble of one of the machines. We're close."
"Wow, so you have super hearing too?" Kate asked.
"All of my senses are basically dialed to 11," Peter explained. "It's taken a lot of practice to manage properly."
"I'll bet," Kate replied.
As they continued, Peter realized he hadn't spoken to M.J. since all this craziness first went down. He didn't fully know what he was heading into, which could be applied to many of his situations over the years. Still, something about all this felt different, bigger than anything he'd dealt with before. If he and this makeshift team of Avengers failed, it would be the end of the world. Peter knew he would never forgive himself if he didn't at least try to speak to her one more time before he went all in. He didn't care anymore that Kate was there or what she might hear; he just needed to hear M.J.'s voice before doing this.
Tapping the side of his mask, Peter dialed her.
M.J. rotated her phone in her hand repeatedly, pondering whether she should call Peter. She'd been following the events of the day, with the arrivals of the new machines all around the world. There had also been reports of a group of individuals with Spider-Man, mostly a guy in a gold helmet who could fly and shoot some kind of energy from his arms. Concrete details had been hard to come by though, which only added to M.J.'s restlessness.
Obviously, Peter was likely trying to handle the situation, so it made sense that she hadn't heard from him yet. He needed to focus on what needed to be done to save everyone, which of course included her. Still, M.J. couldn't help but feel a burning desire to at least hear her boyfriend's voice before he went into a deadly battle. It was funny, because Peter had been through so many life and death situations even over the last couple years than he deserved, and for the most part, she had learned to not stress over it, or at least figured out how to manage said stress.
This, however, was the first potentially world-ending threat that Peter had faced since the Snap. Therefore, it was also the first time she had to sit and wait as the man she loved went off to face Armageddon head on, hoping he would be victorious. M.J. wished there was some way for her to play a part in whatever he was doing right now; some way she could take back some semblance of control and, most of all, to ensure that the love of her life came back to her.
M.J. had gotten so lost in thought that she almost dropped her phone when it started ringing out of nowhere. She quickly recovered it to see that it was Peter, and she had never hit "accept" on a call as fast as she did right then.
"Peter?" she said as she answered.
"Uhm, yeah?" Peter replied, "sorry if you were expecting someone else." His tone was one of playful teasing, and M.J. couldn't help but feel a smile coming onto her face in reaction to it. Her boyfriend always seemed to manage to keep a relaxed exterior demeanor, no matter what kind of situation he may be dealing with.
"Yeah, I'm so disappointed," she responded in her own form of dry sarcasm, though she couldn't help but let her nervousness out a little in her words. She tried to think of some additional snappy thing to add, but nothing seemed to come to mind for her or Peter, so there was silence over the line for a few seconds.
"Sorry I haven't reached out today," Peter finally spoke up.
"I've told you a thousand times before, you don't need to apologize in situations like this," M.J. responded. "It's all over the news, so it's not like I didn't know."
"I know, but it's just...you deserve better than this," Peter said. His tone was more sincere now, almost melancholy.
"Dork, if you say something like that to me one more time, I'll..."
"I love it when you call me stuff like 'dork' and 'nerd'," Peter said, cutting her off. "It's endearing."
Darn it, how was he so disarming and genuine that he could appreciate something like that?
"Well, just make it out alive from whatever you're doing, and you'll get to hear it a lot more, nerd," M.J. replied.
She heard what sounded like Peter chuckling over the line before he continued.
"Look, M.J," he said, "I know you said that you didn't want to have these kinds of conversations right before, well, you know, but I just..."
"It's okay," M.J. said, cutting him off. She knew exactly what Peter meant; they had had a talk early in their relationship where she had made clear that she didn't want some sappy speech from him before he seemingly faced off against insurmountable odds, because in her mind, that would mean he had given up, or at least accepted the fact that he was likely to die, even if he won. Now, however, as such a moment had arrived upon them, M.J. found that none of that mattered to her. All she cared about right now was hearing Peter's voice and letting it flood her ears and brain with the sound of her favorite person.
There was a noise over the line that sounded like Peter was taking a breath, as if he was gathering the will to say what he needed to say.
"I wish I had some fancier, more clever way for me to say this," he said, seemingly chuckling at himself, "but you were never cared about that anyway, so I'm just going to say it: you're the best part of my life. So many times, over the last couple of years, the main thing that's kept me going in difficult situations has been knowing that I have you to come back to. I love you so mu..."
Suddenly, the line went dead.
"Peter?" M.J. said, a nervousness spiking within her. "Peter?"
She looked at her phone only to have it fully confirmed that the call had been spontaneously cut off. Instead, all she saw was her screen saver: a picture of her and Peter that she had taken at Central Park of the two of them. He was making the most ridiculous face, a perfect contrast to her much more stoic expression.
In her mind, it pretty much summed up why they were perfect for each other.
Clutching her phone in both hands, she brought it up to her forehead as she bent over while sitting on her bed, trying desperately to fight against the fear welling up inside her that was already threatening to produce tears. She was so scared, but she had to be strong. He would come back to her; he always did.
Right?
"M.J?" Peter said. "M.J?"
It was no use; the line was dead.
Great, just great. What he'd hoped would be a sweet and simple conversation probably had likely done nothing but sent his girlfriend into a panic at the sudden loss of connection.
If he survived this, Peter hoped M.J. wouldn't kill him for violating what they'd talked about regarding these types of conversations.
"I'm guessing that means whoever you were talking to hung up?" Kate asked.
"No, the line went dead," Peter said, and something dawned on him. He listened carefully, and he realized now that the machine was much louder. Kate said nothing, but her expression conveyed that now she could hear it clearly too.
They were inside the dome.
So, my original intent for this chapter was to have it broken into the sections focusing on each pair's point of entry and how each attempt at stopping the machines went. Then, I thought, "Huh, Peter hasn't spoken with M.J. since this all went down, so let's change that," and then...the idea basically hijacked the chapter. I promise, the next chapter will spend a lot more time with each of the different characters as they take on this new challenge.
Anyway, I hope you still enjoyed it! Thanks to those who've been supporting it!
Continuing to pray for you all. Stay safe and healthy!
"But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved." Ephesians 2:4-5