Standing outside the door, M.J. rang the doorbell to Liz's place. Sure enough, within a few seconds, her best friend opened the door to the apartment.
"We're sorry we're late," M.J. apologized before her best friend could even greet her. "Peter had some extra stuff to take care of at work."
"I'm just glad you're finally here," Liz replied, opening the door wider to let in her latest guests. Mary Jane strolled inside the room, her arm wrapped around Peter's. She surveyed the apartment, which was packed full, even for the decent size that it was.
"Looks like you had a good turnout," Peter said, making a similar observation.
"Yeah, this is pretty much everyone," Liz explained.
The two of them went over to get refreshments, and naturally, Mary Jane was greeted by more than a few people, sometimes all at once. She was hardly surprised; she'd made a point to personally make every employee at their store feel welcome from day one, just as she had done with every customer she interacted with. It helped that she had been a party girl growing up too, so she knew how to address a group well.
Peter, on the other hand, was not quite as used to it. He had certainly gotten a lot better through being around work gatherings with her, but M.J. noticed that he still mostly talked when someone directly addressed him, otherwise interjecting only occasionally. He didn't look quite as uncomfortable or out of place as he used to at these things though, and it did make things easier when a few of the ladies brought their boyfriends or husbands over, giving him someone that was a little easier to talk to...or more likely just someone who would actually discuss a subject he was more knowledgeable of/interested in.
Ultimately though, she just appreciated his willingness to come and support her; he was never squirmy or itching to leave, always obliging her to the point where she almost felt sorry for him sometimes when she could tell he was fighting not to show how bored he tended to get at these things as the gatherings wore on. She had always made a point to stick with him as much as possible to try and make him feel better about it all. Besides, whenever he was asked about his thoughts on anything related to her work, he usually found a way to compliment her somehow, which she would be lying if she said she didn't really enjoy.
After the initial barrage of people though, things settled down. M.J. moved casually from person to person, taking the opportunity to not only thank them, but also to catch up. Peter got more opportunity to interject this way too, especially since a lot of her employees were asking about their upcoming nuptials. Mary Jane found she had to restrain herself when on that subject, as she couldn't help but either get excited about the whole thing in general or specifically gush over how helpful Peter had been throughout the process. He had mostly deferred to her preferences, but despite his busy schedule, he'd still managed to do more than his fair share when it came to the bigger things.
As the evening grew later, Liz came up to M.J. and Peter.
"Alright, you about ready for your speech?"
"Yeah, just give me a moment to look over my notes," M.J. replied.
Liz nodded before walking away. M.J. then reached back into her purse and pulled out the folded-up piece of paper that she had written down ideas of things to say. She didn't intend to use it while actually delivering her speech; it was simply a means to organize her thoughts. However, as she looked over it, uncertainty grew in her mind.
"Do you think this is good?" she questioned, practically shoving the paper in Peter's face. Not appearing remotely phased, her fiancé took the paper, his eyes scanning over the words on the page.
"Yeah, I think it's good," he finally replied.
"Man, I was hoping that you would say that it's great," Mary Jane explained, unable to fully mask her disappointment.
"I'm not sure what else you can say," Peter said, gesturing back to the paper before offering it back to her. "You covered all the basics: you thanked them for their hard work, and you made clear what things will look like going forward."
"I'm their leader though," M.J. clarified. "They're all looking to Liz and me as we get ready to open the new place. What I say needs to get them excited about what we're doing. I need something to spice it up a bit, you know?"
"Hey," Peter said. M.J. could feel his steady hand against the back of her dress, a simple gesture he would do when she started to get worked up over something. "You got this, okay? Just...speak from the heart, as cliché as that is. You're passionate about this job, M.J; this is what you love. That's why they're all following you already."
M.J. glanced down at the notes before folding the paper back up.
"You're right," she conceded.
"Well, don't sound surprised or anything," Peter replied sarcastically. M.J. nudged him with her shoulder, with him providing a nudge back. M.J. then turned and faced forward, trying to refocus and gather her last-minute thoughts as she prepared to address the room. Her train of thought was interrupted by the sound of a phone going off. In fact, it was Peter's; he reached into his pocket, and his face fell upon glancing at it, her heart sinking just a little with it.
"Something else?" she asked, her tone soft and quiet so as not to draw attention to their conversation.
Peter put his phone away.
"Something came in over the police radio about a weapons deal nearby," he explained.
No further elaboration was needed; M.J. had come to understand what needed to be done in these situations.
"I'll explain it," she said. "Go."
Peter turned to her; his eyes appeared slightly downcast but a light smile on his lips. It was an ultimately bittersweet look that matched the feeling in her heart any time he had to duck out like this. She was never angry at him for excusing himself from her presence to save the day, but sometimes M.J. just really wished that the city would behave itself for once and let the two of them have a peaceful evening.
Taking her cheeks in his hands, Peter drew her to him, planting a kiss on her. M.J. wrapped her arms around his wrists as she returned the gesture before they separated and her fiancé quietly took his leave, slipping out the door. Almost as soon as he did, Liz came back up to her.
"Is Peter okay?" she asked.
"I think so," M.J. explained, making a point to pep up her voice slightly. "I think something he ate or drank a while ago wasn't sitting well with him though. I finally convinced him to go outside and get some air."
"I'm sorry that he's about to miss your toast," Liz lamented.
"Yeah," M.J. replied with a sigh. "It can't be helped I guess."
Indeed, as long as people continued being criminals and doing dumb, illegal things, it really couldn't be.
"Anyway, you ready?" Liz asked.
M.J. nodded and, moving to the center of the room, she spoke up.
"Can I have everyone's attention for a minute please?"
The conversation quickly died down, and soon, all eyes were on her.
"First of all, thank you," M.J. continued, "not just for coming tonight, but for everything. Some of you have been with us only for a little bit, but for those of you that have stood by Liz and I since the beginning, you ladies know how hard we had to work to get to this point. When we first started out, we believed in what we were doing, but we didn't know if others would. We were afraid that others would see us as just another store, but you all more than came through for us and helped make us the fastest growing small business in the city!"
The room broke out into applause at that statement; some cheers could be heard as well.
"I know that this second location is going to take a lot of work," she said. "It will be a big transition for everyone, including me and Liz. I've seen what each lady in this room is capable of though, so know that we have every confidence that we will only continue to succeed and reach even higher goals."
M.J. raised her glass.
"So, here's to all of you," she said. "This isn't just mine or Liz's dream anymore, it's all of yours too."
An even greater round of applause and cheers broke out as others raised their glasses too.
"Wow," M.J. thought to herself, "Peter was even more right than he realized."
Working through his frustrations over having to bail on Mary Jane again, Peter released his current web line, landing gently on the corner of a rooftop. His first realization as he glanced to the ground below was that this was no ordinary criminal operation; there were at least thirty men down there, most of them with weapons already in hand. They were likely the ones standing guard while the few that were talking were probably handling the logistics of the transaction. Peter could also see the kinds of "goods" they were trading: assault rifles, grenades, rocket launchers, all things that definitely needed to be kept off the street.
Once he was confident that he'd assessed the situation well enough, Peter decided that it was time to introduce himself. Swinging down, he delivered a kick in the back to one of the men conducting the deal, sending him crashing into the guy across from him, the two of them spilling to the ground. Naturally, this drew the attention of everyone else, with Peter turning to see their guns trained on him. He turned and ran for a nearby crate, jumping and flipping out of the way of their gunfire. Once he'd made it to his cover, he waited, hearing the weapons of his opponents going silent. He could hear their footsteps approaching, drawing closer, closer...
Finally, Peter leapt from his hiding spot, soaring over them. They tried shooting his direction, but he remained ahead of their bullets. Shooting multiple webs, he disarmed many of them of their weapons, yanking them into the heads of those next to them hard enough to knock them out. Once he landed in closer range, he went to work, taking them out one at a time. They swung at him with fists, knives and even crowbars, but none of it made any difference as Peter evaded every swing before returning the favor in the form of a punch, kick or web blast, all the while chastising them for "playing with the toys they weren't allowed to."
After taking out nearly everyone from a closer range, Peter's spider sense went off, and he turned to see that a couple of the men had run away during the skirmish in order to get to some of the heavier artillery that they had been selling. They were now aiming a pair of rocket launchers his way, with the one on the right taking his shot first. Peter leapt up onto a crate overhead to avoid it just in time for the second guy to fire away as well. Naturally, he dodged this one too, but almost as soon as he did, Peter's spider sense went off again. He followed his instinctual sixth to where the rocket was headed; it exploded against the wall of a nearby building...sending a man who'd been hiding on the roof flying in the process!
Without hesitation, Peter fired a web, leaping into the air and making a quick arc straight for the rapidly descending individual, catching him mid-fall before eventually landing on the ground. When he set the man down, he started to ask if he was alright, until he saw who it was: Eddie Brock.
"Thanks man," his friend and coworker said with earnest gratitude, obviously unaware of who he was speaking to. Peter contemplated whether he should say anything, his thoughts quickly interrupted by his spider sense going off yet again, alerting him to more incoming rockets. He grabbed Eddie and quickly leapt a good thirty feet in the other direction, setting the man down.
"Stay here," he instructed in what he hoped was a deeper, more commanding voice than usual. He then quickly made his way back to the last two thugs, webbing away their weapons before they could reload. Somersaulting in the air, he performed a split kick straight to the heads of his opponents, knocking them out instantly. He proceeded to web everyone up nice and tight for the police, with Eddie coming over to him as he did so.
"Care for a comment, Spider-Man?" he asked, his phone out to record.
Finishing his work, Peter's brain went into overdrive as he pondered how to handle the situation.
"Uh...excuse me, I think my spider sense is tingling, gotta go!"
Peter then quickly swung away, leaving Eddie behind just as the police finally arrived on the scene.
Hammerhead shut his phone off, turning and stuffing it back into his inside jacket pocket.
"Our weapons deal tonight was a bust," he reported to his boss, who was standing at the window of his large office, looking over the city.
"Spider-Man?" the large man asked.
"Yes," Hammerhead confirmed. "Also, supposedly there was a reporter on the scene when the cops got there. From what our guy on the inside said, he might have been there most of the time."
Hammerhead's boss said nothing initially; he was used to this kind of response by now. The man was not one to get visibly upset or show a lot of emotion, at least not behind closed doors. Rather, he was careful, meticulous and strategic, carefully thinking through every next step.
"Hammerhead, I believe that we have acquired some new allies recently," the man finally spoke up. "I think it's time we put them to good use."
"Understood boss," Hammerhead replied, "and the reporter?"
"We need to find out how much he really knows," his boss replied. "I don't want to waste our time with someone who isn't actually that much of a threat, but if he does know too much, we will deal with him accordingly."
"Yes sir," Hammerhead replied before exiting the room.
And the plot thickens...
Thanks again to all of you who have supported this series in any way! I appreciate it more than I can express.
Continuing to pray for you all; stay safe and healthy!
"Listen, my son, and be wise, and set your heart on the right path." Proverbs 23:19