Spider-Man and MJ: Never Break
Chapter 4 Bad News
The next morning, Peter could barely remember the movie. He had been too distracted with everything else that happened the night before. The girl of his dreams went out on a date with him and found out about his alter ego. And her reaction was ideal. For most of the morning, Peter felt like life would never hurt again. And then he got a call from a police captain named Yuri Watanabe.
"I had a very interesting talk with Terence Redfield," Yuri said.
"The current CEO of Oscorp?" Spider-Man asked.
"That's the one. He came clean about that giant rat-thing you took out. Redfield claims that Project Vermin was conducted without his permission or knowledge. It was one of the last projects ordered by Norman Osborn, AKA Green Goblin."
"He wants us to believe that they were mutating a rat into a monster for a year and the CEO never found out until now?" Spider-Man questioned.
"His excuse was being too busy to know about everything that happens in Oscorp. He says he's had a hard time finding willing business partners after the founder of the company was outed as a supervillain."
Spider-Man relented the suspicion. That was a legitimate complaint. Spider-Man had come to seriously consider that he was wrong to let the world know Green Goblin's identity because the reputation of every employee at the company was tarnished. When he told the new ankers on live T.V. the truth about Norman Osborn, he neglected to think about the poor saps who had to say they used to work for Green Goblin in job interviews. The plan was to incriminate Norman and put him in prison, but when Green Goblin died in that accident, the whole point was rendered meaningless and the employees were shamed for no good reason.
Yuri continued, "Redfield told me that he ordered for Project Vermin to be scrapped as soon as he found out about it. They were supposed to put the rats down, but that's where the scary news comes in. He says that the lab was attacked and the rat escaped in the chaos."
"Did he say who attacked them?" Spider-Man asked.
"He's not sure, but . . ." Yuri pursed her lips uncomfortably. Spider-Man knew she didn't scare easily; this was going to be bad. "There were very few people who knew that Project Vermin existed. Even Terence Redfield, the current CEO, didn't know until a few days ago. However, it's worth pointing out that the projected was ordered by-"
"He's dead, Yuri," Spider-Man insisted.
"Not only did this attacker know the project existed, he also likely knew that the project was about to be scrapped, prompting his action. This would have had to be someone with deep connection in Oscorp if not someone who could hack into their super secure communications; Norman could be either of those somebodies. I know you saw his severed head, but haven't you seen stranger things than someone surviving decapitation. You've met a few mutants who could pull that off." She wasn't wrong.
"If Norman was still alive, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be. He could have killed me in my sleep or set a bomb somewhere he knew I would be."
"Don't rule Norman out. I know you want him to be dead, but we need to keep our eyes open," Yuri insisted. "One more bit of bad news; Redfield said that there were actually three rats."
"What?!" Spider-Man said, alarmed. "I've only seen one giant rat and there hasn't been any sightings of any others."
"Yes, well, Redfield thinks that whoever attacked got away with them and still has them."
"Ooooooooh, great," Spider-Man bemoaned. "Okay. I'll be on the lookout for a mad man with two giant rats. Thanks for the info, Yuri."
As soon as Yuri hung up, Peter plopped down onto the couch in the middle of the living room and buried his face in his hands. This news was certainly depressing. But then he thought about MJ and his mood lifted right back up. Thinking again, it was manageable. He beat one of the rats already; he could do it again.
"Peter Parker is Spider-Man," Mary Jane thought. "That still sounds weird. Nerdy, shy, awkward, adorkable Peter Parker is Spider-Man. I would have thought that Pete had never been in a fight in his life. Now I find out that he actually pounds supervillains on a regular basis. And the craziest thing is, the boy who had a crush on me for a year was Spider-Man." She still couldn't wrap her head around it. "Spider-Man had a crush on me for a year! That doesn't make any sense. He could have found some other superhero. He could have dated some famous celebrity if he wanted to. Why would he choose me? I mean . . . sure I'm good looking and I have personality, but . . . SPIDER-MAN?! Does he even remember that I work as a waitress or the time I overdosed a while back? I know he heard about it. Maybe he just doesn't realize what his options really are yet. Maybe he had feelings for me before he became Spider-Man and he held onto that when he didn't need to. So, what's going to happen when he figures out that he can do better?"
When MJ made it to the door, Peter was the one to let her in. "Hey," he happily greeted.
"Hey," she replied, trying to match his happiness.
Once MJ was inside, Peter closed the door behind her and deadbolted it, knowing there was going to be Spider-Man business that needed to be private. Peter had invited her over to hang out at his apartment. On top of his desire to see her, he had a few things to show her.
"So, this is a little something I set up for May, but you can use it, too," Peter said, opening a program on May's desktop computer.
"Does she know you're using that?" MJ asked.
"Yeah. I asked her about this before she left today," Peter assured her. "Besides, she has two others."
MJ found that different. Her parents would have gone berserk if she used their computer.
Peter put on his signature mask and pointed at the screen while looking at MJ. Onscreen was MJ herself, being seen through the camera in the mask.
"Wha . . . May can see everything you do when you're Spider-Man?!"
"Only if I allow it. We can talk to each other, too."
"And now, you're letting me use this?" MJ asked.
"Yeah. With this, we can still talk even while I'm saving the city."
"Wow. Thanks, Pete."
"Are you're parents both out of the house often? I was thinking maybe I could set this up on your computer some time."
"Um . . . There's not much time when they're both out. But I have a laptop that I could bring over here if May doesn't want me using her computer so much."
"I can do that. The door's always open to you here."
MJ quickly got excited about the hours she could spend away from her parents, watching Spider-Man in action.
It was then that Peter's phone started ringing on the desk. Being closer to it, MJ picked it up. "Who's Yuri?" MJ asked, looking at the caller ID.
"She's . . ." Peter's reflexes told him he should make up some lie, but he quickly remembered that he didn't need to lie to MJ anymore. "She's a police captain. This is probably something important," Peter said, accepting the phone from her. "Hello?"
"Did you see it yet?" Yuri asked.
"See what?"
"Pop quiz," said the supervillain to the floating camera. "How long does it take to make a AAA video game . . . ? Answer: usually about three to five years, but it can take much longer." She pointed her gun around at a group of cowering, business suit wearing hostages and said, "So, how do these slave drivers pump out AAA games every year? Answer: by making their employees work nights, not paying for overtime, yelling at people, setting unrealistic deadlines and not giving a voice to anyone their hurting."
This supervillain was new. Her name was "The Developer". She wore grey clothes; including a tattered trench coat. Her figure was buried under multiple layers of heavy clothing, but on her shirt was written in green letters, "I have a great body under all this censorship." On each of her arms were blades that could extend passed her wrists. On her back was a shotgun and, in her hand, a machinegun. The most unsettling detail was that she appeared to not have a head. If she had one, it was invisible.
Surrounding the hostages were a bunch of generic henchmen that all had the same face and seemed to not be rendered right. Their textures were blurred and every so often, their heads would disappear, leaving only floating eyes, teeth and hair.
The Developer pointed to one of the hostages. "Let's start with her."
"No, please," said the woman as the henchmen pulled her by the arms.
Once the hostage was thrown to her knees in front of her, the Developer said to the camera, "Meet Vivian; the producer who preached about empowerment while never mentioning the women and men whose work she took credit for and whose ideas she passed off as her own."
"Please, stop!" Vivian begged.
"I didn't bring you here to beg." The Developer threw a dice at her feet. "I brought you here to gamble." She looked around at the rest of the hostages and said, "Because you all like gambling, don't you?! You all think everybody should gamble! You even think children should gamble!"
The Developer had six of her henchmen step forward. Each of them was holding a box with a different number on them. "Here's how this is going to work. In each of those boxes is either a controller or a fake skull. You roll the dice and then we open the box with the number you rolled. If you get a controller, you can leave. But if you get a skull, you DIE!"
Vivian stared at the dice frightfully, not wanting to touch them. The Developer added, "Oh, and you have five seconds to roll before I kill you for taking too long."
Vivian quickly grabbed the dice, rolled and trembled as she waited for the number to settle.
"What's in box number five?!" the Developer asked enthusiastically.
The corresponding henchman opened his box and pulled out a skull.
"No," Vivian whispered.
"If it's any comfort, they probably have casinos in Hell," the Developer said.
"I don't want to die!" Vivian screamed.
"People usually don't want what they get from loot boxes." The Developer pointed her machinegun at the her, only hesitating because it was her first time. But she had come there, knowing she'd go through with it. The Developer shot an entire magazine of bullets into Vivian as the others screamed in horror.
The Developer reloaded her machinegun and beckoned for the next to be brought over. As she waited, she turned to the camera and typed onto a translucent keyboard on her arm. Her viewers saw her type, "No one tell them that all the boxes are death boxes."
Author's Note: So there's these things in comic books called back up stories. Basically, it's a completely different story that's sold as a part of the comic book. Sooooooooo, I decided to put a back up story into this fanfiction. It's called Thor and Hulk: False Pantheon.
Summery: A false pantheon starves and enslaves the mortals of a world named Oblious. The false gods have long kept the people helpless and deluded under their heels, but Thor and Hulk will not let this injustice stand. Each false god of Oblious will fall against two of the universe's strongest heroes.
Thor and Hulk: False Pantheon
Chapter 1 Mighty
The head of a frost giant smashed its way into the mansion. On its forehead stood Thor. "WHERE! IS! LOKI!?" Thor demanded.
No one actually answered his question. All of the gun wielding troops either took aim or, more wisely, dropped their weapons and ran for their lives.
Thor could tell that these troops were local to Oblious unlike the forces Loki brought with him. Like the other Obliousians, they had skin that was red with black markings. For a split second, Thor wondered if they could have been under some sort of spell, but that wouldn't make any sense because some of them just ran away; Loki wouldn't make them do that with a spell. But why would they help Loki take over their world of their own free will?
"Put those toys away before you hurt yourselves," Thor said, jumping down from the frost giant's head. One of the troopers shot an energy bolt that struck Thor, hurting him only a little. He winced rather than screamed. Thor through his hammer, Mjolnir, at the trooper who had the audacity to shoot him. When the hammer hit him, it carried the trooper all the way to a stone wall. The trooper stopped flying upon collision with the stone wall, but the hammer kept going, punching a hole in everything in its path. The trooper fell to the floor, blood gushing from the hammer shaped hole in his chest.
"See that? He hurt himself," Thor said, calling Mjolnir back to his hand. "What have we learned?"
The troopers dropped their weapons and ran; all of them except for one. The final trooper trembled as he kept pointing his gun at Thor. He was clearly terrified of Thor, but perhaps a more frightening thought kept him from leaving. Thor didn't engage. Whether or not that trooper would die depended on whether or not he would pull the trigger. Thor noticed that all the troopers that fled either went to the hall straight ahead or the hall to his left. Naturally, the retreating troopers wouldn't want to go toward Loki since Loki would be furious with them and since they were running from Thor who was trying to find Loki. Obviously, the way to Loki was the right hall.
Thor started walking, ignoring the fact that there was still a gun pointing at him. He ignored him until the trooper said with a shaken voice, "In the name of the Empire of Loki, you are under arrest!"
Thor stopped and looked at the trooper with an amused smile. "That's adorable."
"Please!" the trooper said desperately. "Loki is our only hope. The gods of this world enslave us and starve us."
Thor's smile quickly faded. "What?" Thor questioned, unable to understand the idea of Loki being the lesser of two evils.
"I can't afford to feed my family. My eldest daughter sold herself into slavery just to survive. I can't let you stop Loki from making a change for Oblious!"
If anything he said was true, it was news to Thor. It also explained how Loki could have any recruits from Oblious. "I respect your dedication. But Loki's promises are hollow. He would be just the same as the gods you stand against. Leave. Don't waste your life on the lies of a false god." Thor turned away and kept walking. He pretended to waste no more thoughts on the matter, but his mind was fixated on the trooper's words. As he walked down the hall, he took another look at the blood on his hammer. He wasn't going to think much of it, but after what he'd been told . . . Was that the blood of another desperate father on his weapon?
Thor shook his head, tearing himself away from the guilt. What happened was Loki's doing. And Thor would put a stop to it.
Lightning shattered the door as Thor burst into the room. Loki had his back to him, inspecting a map despite Thor's presence. "What an entrance. How did you know that this was the room to explode your way into?" Loki asked casually.
"I could smell your cowardice a mile away," Thor said.
"You've been exploding your way through every door in the fortress with your excessive thunder and lightning until you stumbled upon me," Loki surmised. "Does it pain you that I didn't even see it?" asked Loki who had his back turned.
"I don't care!" Thor lied.
"I think you care," Loki teased.
"It's over, Loki! Your army is defeated. Give up while you still have a head."
Loki finally turned to face Thor. "Look at you. Does mother know you go out in public, dressed like that?" Thor was shirtless. He had armor that looked like reptilian scales made of metal, but it only covered his forearms. His black pants had three metal, circular plates on each leg; one on the thigh, one on the knee, and one on the lower part of his leg. His muscles were quite impressive. His blond hair was somewhat long, but not excessive and his facial hair was short. "A shame we've lost the cape, but you can't where a cape if there's nothing but your skin to attach it to, I suppose," Loki said.
"I didn't come to discuss fashion! Will you yield or die?"
"So impatient. Perhaps you would like to have a look at my plans for this world," Loki invited, gesturing to the map he had been drawing on.
"This isn't your world, Loki. Did you think Oblious would be any different from everywhere else you've tried to conquer? Asgard, Earth, Jotunheim; I didn't let you rule there and I won't let you rule here."
"Ah, but Oblious is different from the others. These people actually want me to take over; at least the ones that aren't blind to the truth do. Most of the people on this planet are too brainwashed to know what's good for them."
"And what truth is bad enough to make your rule preferable?"
"You haven't been here long, have you, brother? Have you not heard of the bodies buried in landfills along with the rest of the garbage? Have you not seen the executions for the nonbelievers?"
"And if you were king here, your nonbelievers would be tolerated?" Thor asked dubiously.
"Well . . . a king must be wary of treason."
"As I thought. I've heard enough!" Thor and Mjolnir ignited with lightning.
Loki sighed. "Very well. It's a shame that the good people of Oblious will never know freedom . . . all because of you." Loki threw the table at him.
Thor swung his hammer and shattered the table, but Loki followed immediately after, conjuring his staff and struck Thor in the head. Loki thrust the staff at Thor, trying to stab him with the attached blade. Thor grabbed the staff, halting it and preventing the stab, but the staff blasted Thor with a bolt of green energy that was far more powerful than that of the weapons his troopers had been using. Thor was pushed back by the blast, but he stayed standing despite the searing pain.
Loki shot another blast, but Thor deflected the bolt with his hammer. Thor threw Mjolnir at Loki, but he moved his head to the side just in time. Thor ran in to hit Loki in the gut with his bare fist. Thor then struck Loki in the head, causing him to stumble away. And When Thor called Mjolnir back, it crashed into Loki's head, knocking him over. Thor raised his hammer and swung it down, striking the staff Loki raised to defend himself. After two more hammer strikes, Loki's staff broke in half, rendering it incapable of producing energy bolts.
Thor raised his hammer again, ready to crush Loki's head. "I YIELD!" Loki screamed, covering his face with his arms. Thor hated his brother. He hated still having any love left for his brother; too much to ignore his pleas for mercy, but not enough to treat him with any kind of dignity. Thor grabbed Loki by the leg and dragged him all the way out of the fortress. . . . He dragged Loki face down.
Thor reunited with his fellow Asgardians, receiving glad congratulations for the victory. Everyone quickly noticed that Thor's demeanor was less joyous than expected.
"What troubles you, my son?" asked Odin, king of Asgard. "The day is won. You have defeated Loki and prevented a conquest of this world."
"I have heard things," Thor said vaguely. "Maybe I have heard lies, but I want to make sure. You said you wished to speak with King Xaxius in his palace. Go. I will meet you there after I'm done."
Author's Note: Don't forget to check out my Couple Reviews on YouTube. So far, I've got –
Spider Man and MJ (Homecoming and Far From Home) - Couple Reviews by MVPKnight
Cortana and Master Chief – Couple Reviews by MVPKnight
Spider-Man and MJ (2002) – Couple Reviews by MVPKnight
The (2002) review is my best so far, so if you don't like the first two, please give that one a chance.
