I watched as Scorpion emerged from the ground. Civilians started to run and quite a few drivers left their cars to get out of dodge. I cracked my neck. I knew I was going to be in for a fight. In hindsight, I probably could have ran and call the others. But at that moment, I was just plain tired of having Hammer and Scorpion in the back of my mind. It also didn't help that I was trying to do something for Michelle before I was interrupted.

Needless to say, I was itching for this fight.

"So, we meet again, little Spider," Scorpion said as he stood up and walked towards me. I stood my ground as I glared at him from underneath my mask. "How's Frictor?"

"He's fine," I spat out. "I just feel bad, though. He wants payback. Too bad he won't get it because I'll be dishing it out on his behalf."

Scorpion came to a stop and scoffed. "And what did I do that was so wrong? I'm not the one who broke the law."

"But you were the one who broke his jaw, and you were the reasoned he was concussed." I balled up my fists. "That's all the reason I need to put you in your place."

Scorpion made a tsk sound as he shook his head. "We could have been partners, Spider-Man. You could have been a real hero for this city. But you insist on doing things the hard way." He sighed. During this, my senses went off. "So be it."

He quickly dropped on all fours before the stinger of his tail shot towards me. It shot forward so fast that I barely had time to perform a black flip, kicking it upward and away from me. As soon as I landed, though, I had to deal with a charging Scorpion. Thinking quickly, I brought my hands out and let loose two strands of webbing at his knees. I kept shooting until his legs were wrapped in webbing. Unable to move his legs, he fell forward to the ground. I didn't want to give him time to recover, so I ran towards him. Just as I was about to reach him, Scorpion used his tail to knock me off to the side. I flew through the air before I slammed into the side of one of the cars that were abandoned. I groaned before I peeled myself from the large dent I left. I knew I was going to feel that in the morning.

During this, Scorpion used his stinger to blast the webbing, burning it away. After he stood up, he aimed his stinger at me and sent a volley of green blasts towards me. I cartwheeled to my right, dodging the blasts. Unfortunately, said blasts ended up hitting the car I dented. The car exploded, and the shockwave knocked me to the ground.

"Just give up, Spider-Man!" Scorpion bellowed. "I'm here to take you in alive. They don't care how injured you are up to that point."

"I'm getting really tired of people telling me to give up," I growled out as I stood up slowly. I took a moment to crack my back, cringing at the painful sensation going up my spine. "After what The Accords did to The Avengers, I'll never support that legislation!"

"But you will submit to it!"

Scorpion shot his tail towards me again. I didn't dodge this time. Instead I brought my hands out and used them to catch the stinger. After that, I quickly turned, sending Scorpion around until he slammed into a parked SUV. As I released his tail, I ran towards him. Just as he peeled himself from the SUV, I left my feet and sent a dropkick into his chest, sending him right back into the SUV. Off of the kick, I did a backflip before I landed on all fours.

"Normally, I'd have to hold back against someone I'm fighting against," I noted. I stood up and quickly ran forward. I then lowered my shoulder and barreled into Scorpion with enough force to send him and the SUV he was against straight into a wall. "But you can take it, can't you?" I straightened myself up and placed my left hand on his chest. I then reared my right hand back before I sent punch after punch into the exposed part of his face. After the fourth punch, however, my fist was caught by his left hand. I tried to press forward, but it was being pushed back. I looked Scorpion in his face. Despite the bruises on his face, he gave me a crap-eating grin.

"I could say the same for you," he retorted. Suddenly, his forehead crashed into my face. The blow stunned me a bit. I staggered backward holding my face. I heard the sound of creaking metal. I then felt a blow to my stomach. I groaned before I took a knee, holding my midsection. "You're strong Spider-Man, I'll give you that." He brought his foot up and placed it against my chest. He used that same foot to roughly push me down to the ground, forcing me onto my back. I struggled to get up, but he had me pinned down to the ground. "But as strong as you are, I'm stronger."

"But not invincible," I grunted out. I drew my right knee against my chest before sent my right foot right into his groin! He yelled out in pain before as he doubled over. Feeling the pressure alleviated from my chest, I quickly rolled to my left before I performed a kip up. Back on my feet, I moved in on him before I brought my knee up, sending it into Scorpion's face. He straightened up from the blow. I caught a glimpse of a cracked lens before he held his face his with hands. I quickly did a 360, sending my elbow into his stomach with enough force to send him flying into a wall.

Scorpion remained against the wall for a bit, holding his stomach. He then stood up from the wall. Despite most of his face being covered, I just knew he was glaring at me. He bared his teeth.

"You just don't know when to quit, do you?!" he growled out. I was about to retort before he brought his tail forward and shot a blast towards me. I couldn't dodge it in time – the blast was just too wide. I was blown backward into a fire hydrant back first. I took a breath through my teeth as I stood up, arching my back. I was pretty sure one of my vertebrae hit the outlet nut.

"Neither do you," I groaned as I cracked my back. Before I could say anything more, I heard the sound of a car approaching. I looked to my right and looked at it. I smirked as I tilted my head, recognizing the Midnight Blue Scion xB. I looked back at Scorpion. "I guess I was wrong. Maybe Frictor will get his payback after all."

The Scion xB skidded to a stop about ten feet away from us. The driver door opened, and out stepped Frictor. He wore all black – including jeans, black Air Forces, and a turtleneck. As usual, he had a hood and ski mask combination. What was different was his jacket. He wore a black trench coat that was open. Come to think about it… was that a strap diagonally across his upper body?

"Wow, Spidey!" Frictor exclaimed in mock annoyance. "You decide to turn up without me? I thought we were squad!"

"Frictor, a pleasure to see you again," Scorpion said with fake delight. "I'm glad you're in good health."

"Wish I could say the same about you in a couple of minutes." He scoffed. "Then again, looks like Spider-Man already did a number on you already."

At that, Scorpion growled. "All Spider-Man did was delay the inevitable. But I'll take you both down." He readied his tail. "I'm glad you came for Round Two."

It was at this point that my senses went off. It wasn't intense. It was barely a nudge. It was if someone just told me to back up a few steps.

"Oh, you think I came for Round Two?" Frictor said. "Nah, homie!" It was at his point that he pulled back the right side of his coat and revealed…

Wait, is that an AA-12 shotgun?!

I took those steps back.

"I came strapped!" Frictor yelled out as he aimed the weapon. Scorpion tried to aim his stinger, but it was too late. Frictor opened fire, letting loose a continuous stream of slugs. With each shot, bits and pieces of Scorpion's armor broke off. Frictor slowly moved forward, pressing on as he continued to fire. At this point, Scorpion turned away and started burrowing into the ground, escaping. Frictor stopped firing before he tucked the rifle away into his trench coat.

"Holy crap, dude!" I said as I walked up to him. Frictor shook his head in disgust.

"I literally never used a gun outside of a range before," he said bitterly. "Scorpion got me acting unusual."

"I mean, you didn't kill anybody," I pointed out. "And you did run him off."

"For now." He sighed. He then looked around. "Bro, this is a mess!"

"It is." I shook my head. "We need to take care of Scorpion before this gets any worse."

"We will. We just got to think of a way to track him down."

It was during this time I heard sirens out in the background. "We gotta get out of here."

"Yeah." Frictor nodded. "I'm going to lay low for a bit. I'll see you around."

"Likewise."

I watched Frictor as he walked away, hearing him mutter underneath his breath. "An AA-12 shotgun – what was I thinking? My hand feels likes I held some clippers for too long." I chuckled to myself. As Frictor reached his car, I turned and ran before I jumped into the air. I shot out a strand of webbing and swung away. I gave up on the Chopped Cheese. Instead, I swung home. I decided to do the next best thing.

After spending some time at home, I swung through the city again. This time, I had a bag in my hand. Said bag had a Tupperware container, along with a couple of cans of Arizona African Rooibos Red Tea. I was a little bit careful as I travelled, making sure I wasn't being tailed by any chopper. Eventually, I arrived at my destination – MJ's building. I landed on the side of it and crawled up. Once I reached her window, I stared inside of it. There was MJ, her back turned towards the window. Her headphones were on, and she was writing something down as she looked down at a textbook. I smiled. I then carefully turned onto my back before I reached into my jacket and pulled out my phone. I pulled up MJ's number and called it. After four rings, she picked up.

"Hey Loser," she greeted.

"Hey Em," I greeted. "Would you kindly open your window for me?"

"…I'm sorry, what?"

"I'm outside." I heard the sound of a chair creaking, followed by footsteps. And then I up towards my right as the window opened. MJ stuck her head out and looked over at me. I smiled up at her. "Surprise."

"What are you doing here?"

"I'll explain. Just let me in, please."

She nodded as she pulled her head inside. I shifted before I climbed inside of the window. Once my feet were planted, I took a moment to remove my shoes. During this, MJ closed the window behind me.

"Wow, you go one day without seeing me, and you come crawling to me in the middle of the night?" she deadpanned.

"I was going to be here earlier," I explained as I walked over to her bed and set the bag down on it. I removed my jacket and began to fold it. "However, I ran into Hammer and Scorpion." I looked over at her as she gave me a worried look.

"…As Peter Parker, or as Spider-Man?" she asked.

"The latter. I was headed to Red Hook to get you a chopped cheese – a Big E style one from General Ock, like the one we had during our first post-Spell date, you know? I figured you could use something to eat while you're studying. On my way, my senses went off, and I ended up being followed by a Daily Bugle helicopter. I drop down to the street, and Hammer decided to have a talk with me."

MJ rolled her eyes before she walked over to her bed and sat on it. "And what did that douchebag have to say?"

"He tried to convince me to register. I turned him down before telling him to bring Scorpion out. I knew he was around. So, Scorpion came out through the ground. We were fighting. Our fight was back and forth, too. And then Frictor showed up."

"He didn't get hurt again, did he?"

"No. Quite the opposite, really. He pulled out an automatic shotgun and unloaded on Scorpion. He actually sent him running." I removed my mask. It was at this point that MJ's eyes went a bit wide. I sighed. "How bad is it?"

"You have quite the shiner around your left eye," MJ replied. "…What did he do to you?"

"Let's see…" I looked up at the ceiling in thought. "…He knocked me into a car. He blew up that same car, sending me flying. He hit me with a head butt." I tilted my head briefly. "That would explain the shiner I have. He stepped on my chest… and then he blasted me, sending me crashing back first into a fire hydrant. I'm pretty sure hit the front nut of it."

"…Okay…" MJ stood up. "…Now I have to ask the obvious question. Why are you here and not at home resting?"

"Because I made you wheat cakes and bought you a couple of cans of Arizona. It's rooibos tea. I… would have made it fresh, but I don't have any rooibos tea at home… or any kind of tea at home, cans of Celsius aside." I smiled sheepishly. "…At least I didn't bring Cocaine."

MJ closed her eyes and took in a breath. "…Peter…" She opened her eyes and shook her head. "You are the only person I know that can both frustrate me and delight me, at the same time, to such an extreme degree that you make my brain want to short circuit." She sighed before she gave me a lopsided smile. "…Next time, just stay at home and rest, okay? I'm grateful that you did this, so thank you, but your wellbeing means more to me than my appetite."

"I get that, I really do," I replied gently. "But… I just wanted to do something for you. I…" I paused. "Okay, I'm going to be honest a bit. I cheated a bit." I paused again, realizing how it may have sounded. "I-I-I-I don't mean in the way of infidelity, I promise you! I mean…"

"I know you didn't mean it that way," MJ assured. I let loose a sigh of relief.

"Okay… what I meant was… I leaned a bit on pre-Spell knowledge. And I remembered that, sometimes, when you have these intense study sessions by yourself, you sometimes forget to eat. So, I wanted to get you some food. So… here I am and here it is." I frowned. "MJ… I know you're supportive of me being Spider-Man, and I'm happy about that, but I don't want me being Spider-Man to be the reason I'm not a supportive boyfriend. You asked me for everything, so I want to give you everything."

MJ stared at me a look of subtle surprise. She then shook her head. "Okay. But just… stay with me a while, alright? I just want to make sure you're okay."

I raised my eyebrows. "Are you sure? I don't want to distract you or anything."

"I've literally been at this since about 3:30. I could use a break. And besides, you can lie down while I study again."

I nodded. "Good point."

So I did stay a while. At her insistence, MJ shared the wheat cakes with me, as well as one of the cans of Arizona. After we ate, I did lay down on her bed for a while. A while turned into overnight when I woke up to MJ snuggling up to me. I didn't protest or ask any questions. I just shared a good night kiss with her before I wrapped my arm around her and went to sleep. She woke me up early in the morning. She had to kick me out before her parents woke up. I got dressed quickly. After a giving her a quick hug and kiss, I pulled my mask down and went out the window.

Once I arrived home, I took a shower and brushed my teeth before I made breakfast. As I ate, my phone vibrated on the bed next to me. I picked it up and saw an unknown number. I narrowed my eyes, then answered it.

"Hello?" I greeted.

"Hey Peter," a familiar voice responded. "It's me, Pepper."

"Hey." I smiled. "How's everything?"

"Everything is good. I'm sorry to call you out the blue. I just realized that I didn't have your number. I called Scott for it. I hope you don't mind."

"No, not at all."

"Good. I try to respect boundaries. Anyway, the reason I called is because I wanted to know if you took time to digest everything I laid on your lap."

"I did. And after thinking about it and some urging from my better half, I decided to take you up on your offer."

"That's great to hear, Peter. Well, allow me to formally welcome you aboard Stark Industries. Now, since I'll have you on retainer, I just need to get some information from you so I can start mailing you your fee, along with a couple of goodies as a sign-on bonus."

"Okay. Well my address is…"

After the phone call, I went back to eating. My phone then vibrated again. I picked it up to see Scott's name across the screen. I answered the call.

"Hey Scott."

"Hey Peter," he replied. I raised my eyebrows. I couldn't help but notice the tone of worry in his voice. "Can you come over? There's an urgent matter I need to discuss with you."

"…Is everything okay?" I asked.

"…No. Right now, Craig is beside himself."

"….Why?"

"Do you know about his ex-girlfriend?"

"Yeah, he told me the story behind the breakup. Scott, what is going on?"

"I'll tell you when you get here. But, just know… there might be a chance you'll have to clear your schedule on the weekend."

"…Okay… I'll be there in about 15 minutes." I hung up my phone. All of a sudden, I got a weird feeling in my gut.

Life of an X-Man, huh?