*KKD just stood and stared at something with a sorrowful look. He sat down, looking very saddened by the sight before him, as Pikatwig walked over*
Pikatwig: Something the matter?
KKD: Yea.
Pikatwig: You wanna tell me what it is…?
KKD: Can't.
Pikatwig: Why not?
*KKD then just motioned outside to the moon… where Thanos stood with the Infinity Gauntlet and was glaring down at the Earth*
KKD: He demands silence…
Pikatwig: ...k?
KKD: Long story, but it relates to the new Avengers movie… which is all I'm allowed to say. Once enough people have seen the movie, he'll back off.
Pikatwig: Which ain't gonna include me since I've never seen any MCU movie.
KKD: ...why?
Pikatwig: I was nine when the first movie came out, so I don't know if I was allowed to watch it. Also… growing up and seeing those ads shows how little comic knowledge I actually have. I thought the Guardians of the Galaxy and Captain America were all new characters and the movies were their debut.
KKD: ...seriously?
Pikatwig: Yep.
KKD: ...I… but… you… I mean… uh… what… I… *facepalms*
Pikatwig: And I used to think that the Fantastic Four and Spider-Man were owned by DC.
KKD: *sighs* Wow…
Pikatwig: Anyway… let's go onto some recent Spider-Man stuff that's not involving that movie.
KKD: Yes.
Pikatwig: Peter has a younger sister.
KKD: Wait, WHAATTT?! O0O?!
Pikatwig: Yea, he has a sister. ...you know about that?
KKD: Nope!
Pikatwig: Well, to go over the background of Teresa Parker, she debuted… roughly around the era of the Clone Saga or sometime before it… and was tricked by the Kingpin into trying to kill Spider-Man. The reason we never saw her until that storyline was because she was on the same plane that killed Peter's parents.
KKD: Oh great, next thing you know, she's gonna be a robot clone like the last time their parents were in the comics.
Pikatwig: ...much like their parents, she started to work for the CIA and then SHIELD, before she vanished until recently. Back in her debut it was left vague if she was actually related to Peter, but they confirmed she is his younger sister.
KKD: Still weird to know that he had a sister at all, but… yea.
Pikatwig: So, just a thought, think we can include her somehow? *KKD shrugged* Well, audience, let us know if you want to see Peter's younger sister and we'll see if we can figure it out.
KKD: In the meantime, though, we got more hijinks going on with our favorite wall-crawler.
Pikatwig: After our crossover in the previous chapter this chapter will be mostly filler for a bit of calm after the storm. And I will say that Doc Ock won't be appearing again for a while, at least.
KKD: Considering what happened, I think he needs to lay low for a while, too.
Pikatwig: Well, let's go ahead and begin.
Disclaimers: Neither KKD nor Pikatwig own anything in this story as it is a fan-based project. Spider-Man and any associated properties within are owned by Marvel Comics, Walt Disney Studios, Stan Lee, Steve Ditko, and their respective creators and owners. The only things the authors own are the original concepts and idea introduced within.
Peter was currently reading his science textbook in class, trying to study up for an upcoming test, as he dodged a paper airplane that Flash flung at him.
"Really, Flash?" Peter sighed as he turned towards him.
"I didn't do it," Flash quickly responded.
Peter just gave a roll of his eyes as he went back to studying. He then dodged another paper airplane.
"Benefit of the Spider Sense, being able to avoid these dumb paper airplanes is easy."
Gwen adjusted her glasses a little as she looked over at her notes for a bit. MJ, meanwhile, slipped her feet out of her shoes for a moment as she studied. Flash then tossed paper airplanes towards the two girls, but Peter managed to snag the two before they could hit them. The paper airplanes fell to the ground alongside some paper clips that Peter had tossed to stop them in flight.
"Tch… what's with Parker, lately? He's being so frustrating!" Flash growled.
"You know… hindsight kind of stinks. If I knew what was going to happen to Flash, I think I would've tried to be a bit nicer to him. I can't say what happens to him, we're a LONG ways away from that. But in the meantime, I will say I really would've deserved what would come… and again, long ways from that. What does come about is certainly something I wish I could've prevented…"
Peter looked over his notes a bit before the bell rang. He gathered his things and then left for his locker.
Peter and MJ were now waiting for Gwen to exit the building, simply sighing a bit as they waited.
"So MJ… heard you made the volleyball team. Am I right?" Peter checked.
"Yep," MJ nodded, "I've been doing a great job at it, too, bringing our team our first win streak in several years."
"...I'll try and attend some of the games. Sounds like it'll be fun. Plus… you're my friend and I wanna support you…"
"Oh… thank you, Tiger," MJ smiled, faintly blushing.
"Oh how cute… the nerd has a girlfriend," they heard, turning to see Flash and some football players with him, "Oh, please. Go on. Don't be scared on my account. After all, the boy's gotta grow up and defend his girlfriend.
"Go away, Flash," Peter said with an annoyed tone.
"Why?"
"Just go away…"
"Peter, let me handle this," MJ told him.
In response, Peter stepped back as MJ approached Flash with an annoyed look.
"You heard him, go away," MJ firmly said.
Flash just glared at the two before MJ glared back. The two just glared for a moment before Flash and his team just walked away.
"Did I miss something?" Gwen asked as she walked over.
"Nothing big," MJ assured.
"Ok. So, shall we head off with Harry?"
"He's not here," Peter informed, "He decided not to show up. Something about a worry of an alien invasion after that ship that crash-landed a few days ago."
"So… we're gonna have to walk?" Gwen checked.
"Yep," Peter nodded.
The three smiled as they walked off.
"Heh… when was the last time we walked home together?" Gwen asked Peter.
"Years, I think…" Peter responded.
"Yea, quite a long time, I gotta admit," Gwen nodded as MJ walked a bit between the two, "No offense, MJ, but me and Peter have been doing this since the 5th grade."
"...k…" MJ responded with a frustrated look.
Peter simply gave a look that just said 'here we go again' as the two girls glared at each other and tried to cozy up to Peter.
"So… can we just keep walking without you two getting into some sort of argument or something?" Peter sighed.
The two sighed in response before they just walked alongside him at a normal pace.
"...it's like they're two totally different people when the three of us are around each-other. On their own, the two girls are very nice and supportive friends, but once they get within close enough range of me, they suddenly become like cats. They're still nice, yet they glare at each-other like nothing else."
"So, Peter, there's going to be a big sale going on at the mall on Saturday. Do you wanna hang out?" MJ offered.
"Hey, c'mon Mary Jane. I wanna come too. It sounds like fun," Gwen quickly said.
"You? At the mall? Gwen, you're not the type I'd peg who'd enjoy the mall."
"Neither is Peter…"
"Well either way, I doubt you could at least make him somewhat enjoy it if you did go with him."
"I could."
"Then tell me how."
Peter just stared at the two for a bit and simply walked into his house.
"Oh, bye Peter," they quickly said in unison.
He just waved in response as he closed the door. He let out an annoyed sigh as he sat down to take a small breather and just try to relax.
"So, your girlfriends giving you trouble?" Aunt May jokingly asked.
Peter let out a groan before he turned to her, "Aunt May, I get enough of that at school. I don't need more of it here…"
"Sorry, dear. I guess it's one thing to be Spider-Man and deal with villains, but your social life leaves a little to be desired…"
He just plopped his bag on the ground, took out a water bottle, and began to drink it.
"Heh… I still remember that one time you had them both over to see that movie… Eternal Calamity, was it?"
"...yes…"
Peter was sitting on the couch, with MJ and Gwen sitting on either side of him and watching the movie intently. Eventually, it concluded and the three looked at it with some concern and were silent for a bit.
"Well… that was a movie…" Peter said with some uncertainty.
"Yea… I didn't know what to expect…" Gwen admitted.
"I was kinda lost…" MJ commented.
"Well, I'm ready to do something else. Any ideas?"
"Well…" Gwen began as she cuddled up against his left arm, pressing it against her flat chest, "Why don't we try and go study a little?"
"Oh, Peter," MJ interrupted, doing the same to his right arm with her much larger chest and flirty look on her face, "Why don't you and I go to the park? We can have a nice quiet time together and we can cuddle all you want…"
"Oh… come on MJ, that's not fair," Gwen complained, "You're totally trying to seduce him with those things!"
"I'm seducing him? If you were any close to him, he'd be wearing you!" MJ retorted.
"Uh… girls…?" Peter uttered nervously…
"Why won't you let that go?" Peter questioned his aunt.
"Sorry, Peter. It's just that I can't help but laugh at it…" May admitted, "Heh… watch some other girl come in and complicate things more…"
"...if you jinxed that…"
"What are the chances of it?"
"...no comment…"
Peter just shrugged it off as he got up and went to his room.
Saturday had soon arrived and Peter was waiting on his front porch for Gwen and MJ to show up. He looked very nervous as he waited, 'Me… and them at the mall… without anybody else. I guess it's just gonna be a calm day…'
"Yea, I had no idea what I was getting into. It was going to be a long day…"
"Hi Tiger," MJ called out.
Peter looked to see she was wearing what appeared to be a more revealing top, short skirt, and was barefoot for… some reason.
"Hi Peter," Gwen called out, making him turn to see her just wearing a white and pink jacket, a black shirt, blue jeans, her glasses, and some white slip-on shoes.
"Oh… I didn't know we were supposed to wear something different…" Peter commented.
"You're fine," MJ assured.
"...hang on, I gotta get my wallet," Peter told them as he walked back into the house.
"...I see you decided to be casual…" MJ commented.
"Yea. I see you decided to play a temptress…" Gwen responded.
"Jealous?"
"Hey, he's known me since we were kids and we've been friends a lot longer than a year."
"So what? It doesn't mean much when you get to know a person even in spite of less time together."
Gwen just rolled her eyes before noticing MJ's lack of footwear, "...uh… you forgot to wear something."
"No I didn't."
"Yea, you did…"
"Oh, and what would that be? Cute little glasses like you wear?"
"I'm as blind as a bat without these," Gwen quickly retorted before regaining her composure, "I meant you forgot to put on any kind of footwear."
"I know."
"...why?"
"I practice walking without them on so I can get used to any terrain, including sand at the beach. The sand can really dry out feet, so I figured the more barefoot practice I get the better used I can get to any terrain I play on. I actually play volleyball without any footwear anyway. It just makes sense for me to do it at times," MJ explained, "Plus… sometimes it just feels kind of nice."
"...ok…?"
"Plus… I heard some people can't get enough of looking at girls who are barefoot. So I thought I'd get on the bandwagon and show that it's pretty cool," MJ smiled.
"...some weird fashion thing or something?" Gwen asked.
"No, not quite… I mean maybe for some people it can be, but for me I just wanted to do what I already said. Get practice for volleyball."
"Yea… I did actually need to find my wallet, but I decided to listen to what they'd say without me around. Needless to say, I was kind of surprised they were arguing a bit. However, it did sorta make sense that the two would argue a little. Sometimes friends do that, but… yeesh."
Peter walked outside with his wallet in his hands, "Ok… I'm ready. Just… please nothing expensive…"
"Don't worry about it," MJ quickly assured.
"Yea, I'm just gonna browse around and not buy much, if anything," Gwen added.
"There is a sale, remember?"
"Alright…" Peter sighed as they walked along.
The walk to the mall was quiet for the most part. The girls occasional spoke, but it was brief.
"Well, here we are, Manhattan Mall, one of the biggest malls and most popular in New York," Peter commented.
"Sure are a lot of stores around here," Gwen noted.
"Yep," MJ smiled, "So Peter, think we can look at a few of the clothing stores? I really want to see what they have."
"...sure…"
They walked through the food court and eventually found some clothing stores. MJ headed on in with a smile, while both Peter and Gwen just followed.
"Seems a bit silly how other women are so obsessed with shoes and clothes…" Gwen commented, Peter simply shrugging.
"That's something we sure agree on," Peter noted.
"Come on, Gwen, let's go and see what we can find. It'll be fun," MJ smiled as she pulled Gwen along to get some clothes.
"Oh jeez…" Peter and Gwen sighed.
After ten minutes, Gwen and Mary Jane were enjoying dressing in various outfits that they found. Peter simply smiled a bit at the two, seeing they were enjoying each other's company for once while he was around and he admired the two as they showed off their outfits.
"Ok, check this out," Gwen smiled as she walked out with a large white sunhat, a pink shirt, white vest, teal skirt, and a pair of white shoes, "Nice, huh?"
"Yea."
"You think that's cool, check this out," MJ smiled, walking out in a black crop top, denim skirt, had a necklace on, and was still barefoot, "What do you think?"
"W-wow…" Peter gawked, blushing, "You girls both look… uh… stunning…"
"...Really? ...Thanks, I picked this out myself and, well… had fun," Gwen admitted with a blush.
"And you thought clothes were silly," MJ smiled.
"...you… look nice…" Gwen, who had a bit of a brighter blush, told MJ.
"Thanks," MJ responded, "You look nice too."
Gwen smiled a bit as they both walked back to get their clothes.
"...I… I just… wow. You girls looked great," Peter stated.
The two girls walked back out with the clothes they had just tried on in tow, which Peter had to pay for. He let out a small sigh as he began to take out the money.
"So… did the redhead want to buy some shoes or…?" the cashier asked MJ.
"No, I'm ok for now," MJ assured.
"...alright…" the cashier blinked a bit.
Still, the girls helped to pay and they headed off.
"Do you get that a lot?" Peter asked MJ.
"Only when I do go barefoot in public outside of playing volleyball," MJ commented.
Peter just nodded as they left the store and continued through the mall. They soon ended up back at the food court and began to look for some lunch. Peter sat down at a table as the girls looked a bit. He looked over at them for a bit before taking a peek at MJ's feet as she moved around a bit more.
'Not sure why I'm staring, but… eh. Somehow they just seem… I dunno, a bit… cute…' Peter thought before he looked back at some other stuff.
"So, you're part Japanese?" MJ asked.
"Yea," Peter nodded as he was working on eating some ramen with chopsticks, "On my mom's side."
"Well… ain't that a surprise," Gwen added.
"Would almost be as surprising as me randomly finding out I had a younger sister I never knew about…" Peter joked.
"With everything that happened to your parents, I don't know if you should say that…"
"No spoilers on that just yet."
"...what happened to his parents?"
"...all I remember is that there was a plane crash," Peter responded before he finished eating.
"Right… sorry to hear," MJ told Peter as she hugged him.
Gwen simply gave a bit of a jealous look before she also hugged Peter.
"It's ok, girls…" Peter told them.
"Why don't we go and look at something you wanna do, now?" MJ suggested.
"R-Right…"
The trio roamed around the mall for a bit to find something that Peter would find interesting. Eventually, they came across a GameStop and looked around to see what they could get.
"So many games, so little time…" MJ commented.
"Yea… gotta wonder what to pick," Gwen added.
Peter eventually noticed a demo booth for a fighting game, gave a small shrug, and headed on over to try it out.
"Ooh. This game looks like fun. Why don't we try it out and have some fun?" MJ offered.
"...sure," Peter smiled.
They looked over the roster available for the demo, picked their characters, and got ready.
-Wow, our opponents look pretty tough this time, don't they, Narukami?-
-No worries! With my Persona and your Semblance combine, no enemy can stand against us!-
-Let's go, Noel! I'll leave you behind if you don't move quick!-
-You too, Makoto! Keep up with me!-
-Can't escape from crossing fate. FIGHT!-
The two quickly started the match, the two fighting rapidly and quickly, and it got heated quick. Gwen, meanwhile, simply watched for a bit before she just roamed around, trying to check out other games.
"Let's see… what other games are there…? Um… hmm…" she muttered as she looked at a copy of Kirby Triple Deluxe, "Seems cute…"
She proceeded to buy the game with some money she brought. She turned back to see Peter and MJ had wrapped up their match and the latter had won.
"Wow… you're good at video games…" Peter sighed.
"More like I got lucky…" MJ admitted, "Seriously, I've never heard of this game before playing the demo just now. Anyway… since you lost… you need to… uh… hmm…"
She thought for a little bit as she looked around for inspiration, her eyes eventually coming to rest on her feet, "You need to tend to my feet at some point in the near future."
"...alright…" Peter shrugged.
"That was a little odd I will admit, but a bet was a bet. ...actually, did we even bet? I kinda can't remember…"
The trio soon left the GameStop, talking a bit before the lights went out all around them. Everybody got a bit nervous as some robbers began to walk in.
"Alright, everybody, keep calm and you'll be able to leave alive," a robber told people.
Peter, due to the lack of lights, was able to slip away.
"This mall owes our boss a lot of money it hasn't paid up, so we've come to take the cash or else some people will be paying for it…" one goon spoke. Another chuckled at the unintentional pun, but the main goon smacked him upside the head.
Some people started to hand over their money, the bandits keeping their guns aimed at whoever they could aim them at. However, as this went on, the girls looked on with a bit of fear and confusion, but kept a calm demeanor even in spite of being a bit scared.
One of the thieves turned towards the two, managing to see them a bit due to some night-vision goggles before approaching them, "Hello ladies…"
"...oh boy…" they both sighed.
"You're coming with us, ladies," he smirked.
"Not on your life," MJ responded as she tried to grapple with him.
Gwen managed to notice another guy taking aim with a gun, so she quickly ran over and tackled him to the ground.
"Gwen?"
"Over here…" Gwen called out before she noticed something, "...oh great… I lost my glasses…"
There was then a bit of a metallic 'crunch' sound.
"...great… I can't see without them…"
"Here, let me help," MJ said as she hurried over to help Gwen get up, "Why'd you tackle that guy?"
"I saw he was aiming a gun at you, so… I tried to stop him before you got hurt…"
"Thanks," MJ smiled.
The two goons growled a bit as they aimed their guns, but some webbing quickly yanked them away. They all turned and saw Spider-Man was there.
"So, some goons looking to rob a mall? What happened to simply robbing a bank for cash? Don't answer that."
He leapt down to the ground, quickly shooting out some webbing at the guns, blocking them up and quickly rushing in to get them away from the grunts. He also quickly shot some webbing at the night vision goggles the goons had on to keep them from seeing.
"How can he see us?!" one goon yelled.
"He's probably got night vision under that mask!"
"Trade secrets, fellas," he smirked as he dodged under some punches. He quickly shot another web blast that managed to stick him to a wall that was nearby MJ and Gwen.
"So… you would risk your life to keep me safe?" MJ asked.
"We may compete for Peter, but you are my friend Mary Jane. I can't even imagine what would happen if you were gone…"
"Same to you," MJ smiled as she hugged Gwen, "You really are my best friend."
Spider-Man, having overheard this, gave a soft smile under his mask. However, he soon got back to webbing up the last of the criminals. He then zipped away as the mall security arrived.
Peter, MJ and Gwen were now leaving the mall, the girls looking confused as Peter clumsily said where he was.
"You were just hiding?" MJ asked Peter.
"Well… yea. Can you blame me for being scared?"
"...I'm just happy you're safe…" Gwen responded before she turned to MJ, "And thanks for helping to get me home. I owe ya."
"Think nothing of it. What're friends for?"
Peter gave a soft smile as they continued on their way together.
"While there was some excitement I didn't see coming… it was nice to just have a mostly quiet day with the two of them. In the end, I'm glad to have friends like MJ and Gwen with me. ...even if they do occasionally give me a headache…"
Pikatwig: That was a cute ending.
KKD: Yea, sure was.
Pikatwig: Just wanted to have some fun filler after the big crossover. I will say that there is at least one more non-Marvel owned crossover planned for this story, but we're a long ways away from that chapter. Anyhow… overall thoughts?
KKD: A nice quiet chapter, just a slice of life between our hero and his two leading ladies. It's a fun romp for all it's worth.
Pikatwig: In agreement. So… one thing I wanna address is how MJ was barefoot in this chapter. While I was skimming some info about MJ for future ideas for this story, I discovered that, at some points in the comics, she went around barefoot. It was just something on occasion. We debated including it in this story and KKD was ultimately the one who put it into the chapter.
KKD: If it works, it works.
Pikatwig: She won't do it all the time, just every so often. Just so you people know.
KKD: Fair enough. But it's like that in the comics, anyway.
Pikatwg: Anyway, I figured maybe we could focus on the dynamic between Peter, MJ and Gwen to see how they interact with just the three of them. MJ and Gwen may both compete for Peter, but they are still friends with each-other. Just the competition just gets a bit ignited if Peter is in the same area.
KKD: It works.
Pikatwig: And as for how they dressed in the chapter… well, it lines up with their characters. As one Marvel employee commented, and I'm paraphrasing here, MJ's a bit more dynamic than Gwen. So, having MJ dress a bit provocatively and Gwen dress more plainly makes sense.
KKD: I can agree there.
Pikatwig: Also… the little flashback to them seeing some Infinity Wars spoof… yea, I got the idea from SAO. I figured it would work.
KKD: Yea, I guess it does.
Pikatwig: Favorite part?
KKD: Kinda tricky this time. Not much stood out as I thought it would.
Pikatwig: Or at least a moment that stood out to you?
KKD: I guess them just playing the BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle game.
Pikatwig: Demos of that are in some GameStops and the open beta recently came out. Just thought it would be neat. Also, Heisei Generations Final came out on DVD. Some cool stuff was there.
KKD: K.
Pikatwig: My favorite… I'll admit, I kind of can't decide. There were a lot of good moments in this chapter, like the interactions between the group, them just playing the game, and the cute moment between MJ and Gwen. Just… so much nice stuff here.
KKD: Yea, agreed. But for those of you craving action, we got you covered soon, if not next time.
Pikatwig: Harry will be in the next chapter… as will his father. No Green Goblin yet. We're a ways away from him as well.
KKD: Yea, need to establish the two in their own right first.
Pikatwig: Anything else to mention?
KKD: ...Eh. Not really.
Pikatwig: Just asking.
KKD: Jaa ne.
Pikatwig: Just Live More.