Spider-Man and MJ: Never Break
Chapter 8 Proper
It was nine AM when MJ was woken up by a knocking on her bedroom window. She found that confusing since her room was on the second. It ceased to be confusing as soon as she realized who it was. Peter was looking in through the window, waving at her.
Her heart jumped at the idea of Peter seeing her bruise. MJ wasn't wearing enough clothing to conceal her arm. With a quick look, she was assured that the bruise was barely noticeable at that point. MJ got out of bed and locked her door so her parents wouldn't see her boyfriend in her bedroom having never gone through the front door. MJ opened the window and Peter climbed in. MJ was wearing cute, pink, pajama pants and the only top she had on was a bra. She didn't seem to mind Peter seeing her like that; in fact, she liked being seen this way by her boyfriend.
"Hey, Pete. Not that I'm complaining, but why the first thing in the morning window visit?" MJ said, happy to see him.
"Someone tried to kill me last night."
MJ wasn't getting the significance. People were constantly trying to kill Spider-Man. "Oh . . . um . . . I'm glad you're okay?" she said, wondering if she'd have to say that just as constantly.
"He tried to kill me . . . in my apartment," Peter explained.
"You mean . . . ?"
"He knows I'm Spider-Man."
MJ covered her face with her hands. "Is May alright?"
"She's fine; apart from the worrying and feeling guilty about lying to the police," Peter said. "I would have come through the front door, but I keep worrying that someone might see me. I'm worried about you. Has there been anything . . . weird? Like somebody watching you?"
"No. Nothing out of the ordinary that I've noticed. Do you know who he was?"
"No, but . . . his outfit has a certain similarity to it," Peter said uneasily. "He was wearing green and purple; kind of like the Green Goblin. And when he left, I didn't see it, but there was this humming sound; it was kind of like the sound Green Goblin's glider used to make."
"You think it might be him?" MJ asked nervously.
"No. Green Goblin is dead. This guy is a wannabe. But he might be a wannabe with a connection to the original. That would explain how he has the same strength, tech and information."
It only took MJ a few seconds. "Harry," she whispered.
"Harry?" Peter questioned. It sounded funny at first, but the more he thought about it, the more sense it made.
MJ told Peter, "You don't know how dark Harry could be when we were alone or when he didn't know I could hear him talk to himself."
"Did he ever talk about hating Spider-Man?" Peter inquired.
"He refused to talk about Spider-Man, claiming it was too painful for him."
"This is good to know. I'll see if I can find any evidence on Harry. While we're talking about him, why did you keep dating him for so long if he was that bad?"
"Because I was too used to being pushed around by people that are supposed to love me. Also, he was rich and my priorities were all screwed up at the time," MJ thought. But she told him, "I . . . felt bad for him. It was stupid. I was stupid."
Peter said with a heavy heart, "MJ, I asked you out, thinking it would be safe. Now that there's a supervillain that knows my identity on the loose-"
"No," MJ said insistently and sternly, knowing where he was going with this. "You are NOT breaking up with me!"
"I . . ."
"Hey, don't look at my eyes. Look down here," MJ said, tapping a finger on her chest. "You don't want to lose all this, do you?"
"It won't be forever; just until this situation is over," Peter explained, looking at her chest. "It will be dangerous for you to be associated with me."
"Well, it's too late for me to not be associated with you. Everyone knows I'm you're only friend you have left who hasn't become, or been killed by, a supervillain. And if this is Harry, he probably already figured out that we're dating. The safest place for me to be is with you. If you break up with me, I'll be alone and vulnerable. But if we stay together, you can protect me."
Peter had been so used to pessimism about his ability to date someone that he had failed to recognize the logic in optimism. MJ was right; it was safer for them to stay together. "That . . . actually makes a lot of sense."
"Right, so you're not breaking up with me."
"I'm not breaking up with you."
Mary Jane wrapped her arms around the back of Peter's neck. "Never breakup with me," she whispered before pressing her lips against his. Peter gently placed his hands on her uncovered waist and MJ muffled a pleased giggle through her nose. After a few seconds, Peter moved one hand to her back and with the other, he gently stroked his fingers across her arm. Peter was careful not to squeeze too hard, knowing what his strength could do to her. But MJ knew she could squeeze as hard as she wanted and she wouldn't hurt him. Her arms constricted behind Peter's neck and she pushed her lips hard against his.
MJ slowly eased her lips off of his. "I love you," she said breathily.
"I love you," Peter said before giving her a quick kiss as a cherry on top.
"So, you'll investigate Harry while I . . .?"
"Uh. Just stay safe. Go do something somewhere you don't normally go; somewhere no one would think to look for you."
"I'll go to the pet store. They'll never think to look for me there."
"Do you not like pets?" Peter inquired.
"No, I hate pets. They're always barking and shedding on you and getting up in your personal space."
"I knew you were the one for me," Peter, who didn't like pets either, said, getting a giggle out of MJ.
"You should go. If my parents caught us, this would look really, really, REALLY, really bad," MJ said, gesturing at the bra which was the only top she was wearing.
"Right. Call me if you think you might be in danger. Call me if you just have a bad feeling about something. In fact, just call me every once in a while so I'll know if you're okay."
"I will," she said, smiling at his desire to be there for her.
Peter exited through the window and MJ closed it. Once she was sure he was gone, MJ took a second look at the faded bruise on her arm, hoping Peter hadn't noticed. It was barely there at all. If Peter noticed, he probably didn't think much of it. "Everything is going fine," she told herself. "My adorable boyfriend has no idea my parents are abusive and he's going to easily beat up my exe for being a goblin wannabe. All I have to do is survive my shift at the diner and then stare at a few ugly dog products."
MJ got her breakfast, dressed for work and made her way to the door.
"Mary Jane!" her mother called out, stopping her.
"Yeah?"
"Now that you have a new boyfriend, your father and I would like to meet him."
"I don't think Dad really cares to meet him much."
"She ain't wrong," said her father all the way from the living room.
"I want to meet him, so you're going to bring him over," her mother insisted.
"He's busy toda-"
"Then ask him when he won't be busy!" her mother ordered. "After all, we need to make sure that he's proper for my daughter."
That was the single most ironic thing she had heard in weeks. MJ thought, "My garbage, abusive, control-freak mother wants me to subject my sweet, superhero, angel boyfriend to a night of mind-probing and cigarette smoke so that she can judge if he is worthy of a high-class specimen such as HER DAUGHTER! Peter doesn't need to put up with them. He gets enough freaks already." She told her mother out loud, "I think I can decide for myself who's 'proper' for me." She opened the door.
But before she could escape, her mother pushed the door closed again and slapped Mary Jane hard across the face, draining her of defiance. "YOU CAN'T DECIDE ANYTHING FOR YOURSELF!" her mother screamed. "CAN YOU PAY HOUSE PAYMENTS FOR YOURSELF?!"
"No," MJ whimpered.
"NO! YOU'RE JUST A STUPID CHILD! DON'T TELL ME YOU CAN DECIDE ANYTHING FOR YOURSELF! IF IT WEREN'T FOR ME, YOU WOULD BE DECIDING TO DRESS LIKE A WHORE AND GET YOURSELF RAPED! DO YOU UNDERSTAND?!"
"Yes," MJ whimpered.
"Yes, what?!"
"Yes, I understand, Mom," she whimpered, tears filling her eyes.
"Good." Her mother put a hand on MJ's shoulder, presuming to be comforting and making MJ feel violated. "You know I'm just trying to protect you from your own stupidity, right?"
MJ didn't want to, but she nodded, giving her mother the answer she wanted.
"Now, get to work. When you come back home, I expect you to be able to tell me when we'll be meeting your boyfriend," her mother told her.
Author's Note: In case you skip the backup story, I want to tell you now that I just uploaded another video to my YouTube channel called -
Spider-Man and MJ (Spider-Man 3 2007) - Couple Reviews by MVPKnight
Backup Story
Thor and Hulk: False Pantheon
Chapter 5 the Mansion of Fools
Hulk caught everyone's attention when he entered the tavern. They had no idea who or what he was. He could have been an invading troll for all they knew. Thor told them, "He's with me," and that was enough for everyone to go about their business as if nothing happened.
Hulk wished he could have used his other form while they grabbed something to eat, but his wounds wouldn't heal at the rate he needed them to if he did.
To avoid breaking a chair, Hulk sat on the floor next to their table. A waitress hesitantly arrived to take their order and, in time, their plates were delivered.
"So why do you think he let us go?" Hulk asked, placing his napkin on his lap, or at least one of his thighs.
"After I defeated Loki, Xaxius said he found Loki's attempts entertaining. Maybe he wants to keep this going for the excitement," Thor theorized before taking a bite out of a drumstick.
Thor and Hulk's burns were healing fast, but they were still there. They still needed a little more time before they would go back to Oblious.
"You think we should take that fool guy up on his invitation to go assassinate him?" Hulk asked.
"Of course. Skalbar is one of them. We'll have to deal with him eventually."
"Yeah, but . . . it's obviously a trap."
"Isn't that what we want? He may invite more false gods to the party which means we won't have to track them down."
"We might need to be more careful, Thor. Xaxius just beat the crap out of both of us at once. We can't just brute force our way through the entire pantheon."
"Xaxius is likely the most powerful of them all," Thor said reassuringly. "We'll have to get more creative when it's his turn, but don't worry about Skalbar. He introduced himself as the god of fools."
"Maybe that's because he's good at fooling people."
"Could be," Thor allowed. "Alright, we can sneak into his mansion instead of going through the front door again. Maybe we can take him by surprise. But we should go after him. Honestly, I don't know where all the false gods of Oblious live, so starting with him is the efficient option."
"Then we should do some research. Let's talk to the locals a little bit after we take care of Skalbar. Speaking of research, have you heard anything about Oblious having its own resistance movement?"
"As far as I know, we're the only ones fighting against the false gods."
"That can't be right. I mean, there's gotta be someone out there."
She looked like she was about to nod off as she stared at the screen. She was watching mostly because her morning had put her in a lazy mood.
"You look depressed," said a servant as she placed a glass on the stand next to the couch. "Did the meeting not go well?"
"It went perfectly," the lady of the house sighed as she reached for the glass. "They agreed to my plans to help feed the hungry."
"Then, why so melancholy, Lady Sfay?
"I had to sell the idea by talking about how grateful the mortals would be to their 'benevolent' gods," Sfay said, rolling her eyes. "Those egotists are going to brag about this for years as if they were the ones doing the hard work."
"You have done a lot of good, my lady."
"At a cost. Every time I help the mortals of Oblious, it just makes the tyrants look good. I've been helping the oppression by making them complacent."
"Helping the oppression? I think not. You're the only goddess of Oblious who isn't." Sfay couldn't really accept the servant's denial of her guilt. "What more could you be doing."
"Nothing. That's what drives me insane. Fighting, inspiring change in the other gods, and leading a revolution; none of that is an option. And I don't even know if I'm not trying because I know I won't succeed or if I'm too much of a coward."
"Change will come eventually," said the servant, having little effect on Sfay.
"Thank you. That will be all," Sfay said melancholy.
The servant left Sfay to her watching of the screen. The woman in the broadcast announced, "We unfortunately must inform you of a great tragedy."
"Did someone break a nail?" Sfay mocked before taking a sip from her glass.
The woman on screen explained, "Dreya, Goddess of Light and Llution, God of the Forests have both been killed by Thor Odinson and his unnamed accomplice."
Sfay's eyes shot open as her interests were finally perked.
"While the bodies were discovered on the other side of Oblious, testimonies from the palace's staff claim that the attackers arrived at King Xaxius's palace and made an attempt on the King's life as well. Fortunately, Xaxius was seen escaping the attack and he has since gone into hiding."
This was unheard of. Sfay had always considered fighting the other false gods to be impossible. No one who opposed the false gods of Oblious was ever successful in killing one of them. But Thor and Hulk already had two dead. Sfay didn't know if Thor and Hulk could defeat the rest of the pantheon and she didn't know if she could get away with helping them try. But she had grown tired of the endlessly arrested development. There had to be a way for her to help.
They tried to be smart about it when they got to the mansion. They snuck around to the back, but there was no back door. So they instead broke through a window to get inside; not that it went unnoticed.
"Greetings!" Skalbar said over the speakers built into the ceiling. "I've been waiting for you."
"So much for being sneaky," Hulk grumbled.
The inside of the mansion was fancier than expected. Vases were placed on pedestals, paintings hung on the walls, couches and dressers were placed here and there.
One of the doors burst open and a scrawny man shambled through. His hair hadn't been trimmed in a while, neither had his clothes been washed. His bloodshot eyes scanned the room desperately.
"Oh, goodie!" said Skalbar. "You two are about to see what the Mansion of Fools is all about!"
The man set to work, reaching inside vases and ripping open couch cushions. He whimpered and growled as he searched for something.
Thor and Hulk stared in bewilderment. "What the heck is going on?" Hulk asked.
"No idea," Thor replied.
Hulk approached the man and said in a friendly tone, "Hello. We uh . . . couldn't help wondering what your goal is here."
The man ignored him as he opened shelf after shelf.
"Uh . . . maybe you could tell us where to find Skalbar?"
The man ripped a painting off the wall and discovered a secret compartment inside of which was a vial of a red liquid. The man screamed with manic excitement having found the only thing he desired. He quickly grabbed it, removed the cork, and drank the liquid inside. The man shook and fell backward, not caring how hard his landing would be. He looked almost like he was having a seizure until he stopped and laid there with his eyes half open, panting heavily with a satisfied yet weak smile.
"That was horrible," Hulk said, mortified.
"Don't mock it til you've tried it," said Skalbar. One of the walls slid upward, revealing a screen. Onscreen was Skalbar standing next to a man who was tied to a chair. Skalbar apparently had hidden screens all over the mansion, because it was not planned for Thor and Hulk to enter this particular room.
It was then that the fool was losing the effects of his drink. The fool got up and ran off to search another room for another dose.
"From what I've heard, you two just hate to see innocent mortals die for no reason," Skalbar said, pointing his gun at the hostage's head, causing him to whimper and beg.
"Let him go!" Thor demanded.
"So I've heard right, then! Don't you worry your pretty little head, Thor. I intend to let this poor man go home to his wife and kids . . . on one condition. It seems our last scavenger failed to find the other vial of Red Pleasure in that room you're standing in. See that polka dotted vas? Take a look at what's inside."
Hulk dumped the vial out of the vas into his hand.
Skalbar explained, "If you heroes want this poor man to not die a premature death that would make his wife a widow and his children fatherless, all you have to do is decide which one of you will drink that vial of Red Pleasure. I'll give you thirty seconds to decide." A timer appeared on screen which counted down from thirty.
Hulk looked at the vial like he was about to throw up. They both saw what that stuff did to that fool that was in there earlier.
"I'll drink it," Thor volunteered.
"Wait, wait, wait."
"I am Thor, Son of Odin! This poison won't affect me the same as it affects mortals. I won't let it destroy me. I won't drink another dose after this one." Thor uncorked the vial and drank the Red Pleasure. "There, you see? No affect at . . ." Thor's speech ended as he began to feel something claim his entire body.
"Thor?" Hulk said nervously.
Thor shook uncontrollably and fell onto his back.
"THOR!" Hulk kneeled next to him and grabbed his shoulders, trying to snap him out of it. "Thor, look at me! Open your eyes!"
"How selfish of him. I could see that you wanted to be the one to drink it," Skalbar said.
"YOU, SHUT UP!" Hulk roared.
Skalbar laughed maniacally. "If you two don't like it when I speak, why do you do everything I say? Certainly, he didn't drink the Red Pleasure to save this man's life. You didn't really think I'd let him go, did you?"
"NO! PLEASE!" the man in the chair screamed as Skalbar took aim.
BANG!
"YOU FILTHY LITTLE PARASITE!" Hulk roared. "I already came here to kill you, but now I'm going to make it hurt!"
Skalbar said giddily, "You'll find that goal rather hard to achieve once your friend wakes up." Skalbar burst into laughter once again.
Hulk plunged his fist through the screen, ending the conversation. He then turned back to Thor and saw him laying almost motionless with a haunting display of euphoria.
Author's Note: Thank you for reading. And don't forget to check out my YouTube channel if you're interested.
