XV. Exasperation

All day long at school that following day, Peter Parker was pissed. Scarlet Spider had gotten away cleanly. Electro had been broken out of jail, and now he could be anywhere in the city. One more super-powered psychopath to add to the list of dangerous villains at large. Electro, Doc Ock, Jackal, Green Goblin, Scarlet Spider… I'm going to lose count. Now I almost hope that the Green Goblin gets his gang-war with the Kingpin. Maybe then they take a few of each other down for a change, instead of making me do all the dirty work. Peter would have been serious in that sentiment, if not for the high probability of innocent civilians getting caught in the crossfire, should a true civil war between the crime-lords break out all over New York.

Thoughts like these kept Peter stewing to himself, even during the bus-ride home from school. Gwen was glad for the silence, while MJ for once seemed too tired to try and get Peter to open up. When the bus rolled to a stop in their neighborhood, four people got off there, as usual: Peter, MJ, Gwen, and Flash. Three of them went one way; Flash went the other, pausing momentarily to look at the trio over his shoulder before he disappeared without a word. He had backed off of both Peter and Harry in his bullying in recent days, with no explanation forthcoming.

Peter and the girls headed for the Parker home. "Do you wanna hang out?" asked Pete.

"Honestly, I'm so exhausted," said MJ. "It's been such a long week, I just feel like going home and crashing."

"You can crash on the couch if you get tired," said Peter. "Aunt May won't mind."

"All right." So MJ followed Peter and Gwen inside.

Aunt May wasn't home that afternoon, though. She was doubtless off somewhere, involved in one of her many extracurricular activities, the sorts of things people her age did to stay active. And so the kids helped themselves to food and set about doing their homework for most of the rest of that afternoon.

It was when the evening news came on that everything finally came to a head. The TV had been on in the background, just for the sake of some white noise, but now a newscaster appeared and intoned solemnly, "This just in, we have a breaking story: the powered criminal known as Electro has attacked the Ravencroft Institute. Several of the Institute's mental patients have escaped and are reportedly on the run from authorities as we speak. Max Dillon, alias Electro, had already fled the scene by the time police arrived; he remains at large, whereabouts unknown."

Peter stared at the TV screen, his mouth open, a spoonful of milk and cereal suspended in one hand. Ravencroft. That's where Eddie is… or, where he's supposed to be. This… am I cursed? I must be cursed; it's the only possible explanation for the kind of week I'm having.

He looked over at MJ; but she was dozing with her head down on the kitchen table. Gwen, meanwhile, had her nose buried in a math book. She hadn't been paying attention to the news either; she was off in a world of her own.

Great, thought Peter. I don't know what to do. Is this a job for Spider-Man? Electro's already gone; the escaped mental patients don't have powers, so it's really up to the cops to chase them down… but Eddie. Eddie knows who I am. I have no idea how together he'll even be, whether he's gotten better or worse in the meanwhile. But if I can find him, I should try.

Peter debated whether he should rush off and join the manhunt for several minutes. His train of thought was broken by the phone ringing, which also roused MJ from her little nap. He got up, marched over to the phone, and answered it; and then he passed it to Gwen. "Uh… it's for you."

Gwen took the phone, wondering who could possibly know that she was staying here. "Hello?"

"Hello, Gwen Stacy?" said a woman's voice. "This is Detective Terri Lee, at the 112th. Do you remember me?"

"Yeah, sure," said Gwen. The 112th was George Stacy's old precinct. "Terri. What's up?"

"Uh, well… have you heard about the breakout that happened earlier today? At the Ravencroft Institute?"

"Uh, I think it was just on the news," said Gwen, tensing up. "Why?"

"Listen, I just thought I should let you know—you know, out of respect for George—that Kasady was on the list of escapees from the nuthouse that they haven't found yet. Now, I want to you know, there's no reason to think that you're in any kind of danger from this guy. We don't think he was targeting anyone specific, so it's not like he knows who you are or anything. But… well, I just wanted to let you know, and, uh, to say that we'll call again once this whack-job is put away for good."

Gwen mumbled a word of thanks and hung up the phone.

"Is something wrong?" asked Peter.

"Kasady… escaped from the nuthouse," said Gwen. On the outside, she looked stunned. But on the inside, she was seething, boiling with rage.

Peter looked over at the TV, and then back at Gwen. "…He was in Ravencroft?"

"I guess."

Peter turned to MJ. "That's also where Eddie Brock was." And Colonel Jameson, for that matter.

MJ gasped. "Oh my God! Peter, do you… uh… do you want to go… check up on him?"

"I probably should," said Peter.

"Yeah, go ahead," mumbled Gwen. "Run off like you always do, whenever somethin's goin' on."

"What's that supposed to mean?" snapped Peter.

"I don't know. It's only that, you know, the guy who killed my dad is on the loose again, and it looks like you want an excuse to run off and take pictures or something!"

"What?!" said Peter.

"Gwen, you don't understand," said MJ. "This friend of ours from way back, Eddie, he was—"

"Yeah, yeah, I got that," said Gwen. She leaned back onto the wall of the kitchen, arms folded, eyes on the floor. "Sorry. I shouldn't'a said that. I guess I've just got… uh, issues to work out still."

"No kidding," said Peter, who stalked off down to the basement to get his web-shooters and his costume.

"Uh… Peter's under a lot of stress right now too," said MJ in an apologetic tone. "I think he's really worried about our friend—"

"I don't blame him," said Gwen. "Come on. I haven't been staying here all that long, but Pete is like a little brother to me. He can say whatever he wants."

MJ smiled. "'Little'?"

"Yup. Which makes you my official little sister-in-law. You know, 'cuz of how practically-already-married you two are."

"We are not!"

"Yeah y'are," said Gwen. "Mary Jane Watson-Parker, that might as well be your name now," she teased.

"Stop it!" said MJ. "Although…" she closed the textbook that she'd been resting her head on and put her pencil up to her lip pensively, "it does have a nice ring to it…"

Peter came back upstairs with his costume on under his clothes and his gear hidden safely away in his backpack. "Hey Gwen, when Aunt May gets home, can you let her know that I've gone out?"

"Yeah, sure. But first, what's your excuse?"

"My what?"

"You know, your reason for being late, in case you're out all night again." Gwen rolled her eyes and explained it to Peter like it was obvious. "We don't want to get our stories mixed up. So what should I tell Aunt May in case you come sneakin' in through the cellar door at three AM again?"

• • •

Cellar door… cellar door… cellar door…

The trigger-words pounded in MJ's head.

But her master hadn't given her a mission.

Scarlet Spider was a free agent of chaos.

• • •

Peter was so taken aback by Gwen's words that he didn't notice MJ suddenly sit up straight at the table and stare off into space, entranced. "Uh… what do you mean?" he asked.

"Don't play the goof," said Gwen. "I totally heard you come in late, again, the other night. Were you and MJ—?"

Then, spider-sense. Mary Jane stood up, picked up the kitchen table, and hurled it with all her might at Peter and Gwen. Peter felt it coming and dove out of the way, grabbing Gwen in mid-air and pulling her out of harm's way too. The table was shattered into kindling and sawdust. Pete was on his feet again in an instant, but Gwen was rolling around on the ground, nursing a bruised forearm. "MJ, what the hell?" she coughed.

Then Peter and Gwen looked up to see MJ, staring down at both of them with a blank, inhuman gaze… while clinging to the ceiling.

"Holy shit," said Gwen. "This is some wiggy exorcist business!"

"Uh… MJ?" said Peter in a weak voice. "…Please come down?"

Mary Jane responded by skittering along the kitchen ceiling until she came to the back door. Then she kicked the door clear off of its frame and fled out through the Parkers' backyard.

Peter was already pulling off his clothes and putting on his web-shooters. Oh, well, he thought. Gwen's a smart girl; she was going to figure it out eventually anyway.

Gwen could only stare at Peter, stunned out of her wits. "P-Peter… you… you're freakin' Spider-Man?!"

Before he put his mask on, he said to Gwen, "This isn't how I wanted you to find out, but… well, there's no time. MJ's in trouble—I have to go after her."

"Wait! Wha—uh—what am I supposed to tell Aunt May?!"

Peter turned to Gwen and said in his most serious voice, "She never knows! Nobody else ever knows! It's too dangerous! Do you understand?"

"Y-yeah, sure, I won't tell anyone," said Gwen. "But… I meant, what about the kitchen?"

Peter looked around. The kitchen table, the back door… it was a minor disaster area. "Uh… tell Aunt May that I got into a fight with MJ."

"Seriously?"

"You wouldn't be lying," said Pete. "I'm about to get into a fight with MJ." Then he put on his mask and sprang out the back door.

Mary Jane, meanwhile, had leapt the fence into her own backyard, crawled up the side of her house, and through the window into her own bedroom. She reached for a box hidden under her bed and pulled out Scarlet Spider's costume and web-shooters.

• • •

Peter leapt onto the roof of the Parker home and scanned the neighborhood. Spider-sense warned him when Scarlet Spider's foot came flying at his head. He ducked out of the way and turned the tables, launching attacks of his own with fists and feet. Mary Jane countered his every attack with robotic precision. But it was like a fight between a karate black-belt who had spent years on rote forms, versus a martial artist in the vein of Bruce Lee. Mary Jane had ruthless and efficient mental programming; but Peter had experience and improvisation. As they bounced from rooftop to rooftop, exchanging blows and dodging each other's attacks, it was obvious that Pete was going to wear her down, and soon. And so Scarlet Spider kept trying to break away from the fight, to get clear and flee.

Down on the ground, while mowing his parents' backyard, Flash Thompson was shocked to see Spider-Man and Scarlet Spider duking it out on the rooftops of his very neighborhood. "No way…" he said to himself, as Scarlet Spider landed on his rooftop, ran across it, and sprang away, closely chased by Spider-Man. "Go get her, Spidey!" he shouted. After all, Flash was a big fan.

The two costumed characters were heading away from Forest Hills now, and in the general direction of Elmhurst and Rego Park. Peter realized that MJ was following Queens Boulevard, which meant that if she kept this up she would eventually reach the Queensborough Bridge and then Manhattan. "Mary Jane!" he shouted after her. "Come back! I can help you!"

Scarlet Spider didn't answer. She just kept running.

But then again, Peter was much faster than she was. Once he had gained enough ground to get a clear shot, he aimed his web-shooters and fired. Please don't miss, please don't miss, please—direct hit. Thwip-spack! MJ was caught. Peter kept spraying on the webs, hoping to subdue her entirely before she could break free. Now that she was plastered to the roof of a building, he approached cautiously. MJ wasn't saying anything, but she was struggling against his webbing with all of her considerable might.

"Mary Jane," he said, kneeling down and peeling off his mask. "MJ—look at me. It's Peter!"

Through the blank mask of Scarlet Spider, huge white eye-pieces set in crimson, Mary Jane saw the face of the one she loved. "…Peter?"

"Fight it, MJ! I don't know what Gobby did to you, but you can beat this!"

Scarlet Spider finally tore one arm free of the webs and threw a right hook at Peter. He sensed it and caught MJ's arm. "MJ, I don't want to fight you!"

"I don't either," said Mary Jane. "But I have to!" She tore a leg free and kicked, but Peter stopped that too. Now he was physically holding her down, pinning her to the roof.

"Why?!"

"Because he says I have to kill you!"

"Who is 'he', Mary Jane?"

"The Jackal… the Jackal says that I have to kill Spider-Man…" Mary Jane was sobbing underneath her mask now, fighting in her mind to figure out what was real, what she wanted, what was her and not this other dark presence in her psyche.

Peter took MJ's mask off, so that she could see him more clearly. He put his hands on her cheeks and made her look at him. "MJ, look at my face. It's me. It's Peter. Do you really want to kill me?"

"I… I don't think so…" She sounded uncertain.

Peter hugged MJ close. "I going to help you," he said. "Will you come with me?"

"Peter… where are we going?"

He was already pulling the webs off, tearing MJ free. "We're going to go see some friends who can help you. Come on, MJ; I've got you." He picked her up; she clung to Peter tightly, hardly aware of what was going on now. Then they were off, with Peter swinging the both of them across the city.

• • •

In one of the open, brightly-lit penthouse suites of the Baxter Building, Johnny Storm and Ben Grimm were at each other's throats. Or rather, their avatars on the huge flat-screen TV were going at each other, slashing, punching, shooting. Beautifully rendered, high-resolution blood splattered across the display. "Hah!" shouted Johnny, spiking his controller onto the couch. "Owned you again!"

Ben looked down at the enormous, industrial-strength, arcade-style joystick that Reed had built for him. The buttons, stick, and frame were all battered into scrap-metal… again. "Nuts," he grumbled. "I broke my stick."

Johnny looked over at the remains of Ben's controller. "Does this mean no more XBOX?"

Ben shrugged. "Until Reed and Suzie get back, I guess not." He scratched his head with an orange, rocky hand. "Remind me to have Stretcho make me a couple of spares next time."

They were interrupted by the sound of a faint rapping on one of the huge glass window-panes that lined every wall of the penthouse. Ben glanced over and started when he saw Spider-Man sticking to the outside of the window, holding a red-suited spider-girl in his arms. "What in the—?"

"Oh, hey," said Johnny, "it's only Spidey." He went to the window and opened it. "What's up, buddy?"

"It's… complicated," answered Peter. "Listen, is Reed Richards here? I really need to talk to him."

Johnny stared at Spidey and let out a hollow chuckle. "Dude, don't you read the papers? Reed and my sister, like, just got married. A couple of days ago. It was all over TV."

"Sorry, Bug-Boy," said Ben. "It's their honeymoon. They won't be back for a while."

"Rats," said Peter, moving over to the couch and setting MJ down. "I don't suppose either of you know anything about brainwashing?" MJ seemed to be in and out of consciousness now; she groaned softly when Peter finally let go of her and stood back up.

"Okay, this is startin' to sound kinda sketchy—" said Ben.

"Sorry," said Johnny, "I don't think either of us can help you. Who is she?"

"Someone very important to me," said Peter, "and she was brainwashed by the Green Goblin. Or by one of his henchmen, I think."

Johnny snapped his fingers. "The redhead from the party! The girl we went looking for that night!"

"Yeah," said Peter.

"Your girlfriend," said Johnny

"Yeah," said Peter again.

"Oh, man. And the Green Goblin made her, what, all evil and stuff?"

"More like a sleeper-agent, I think," said Peter, "but… basically, yeah, all evil and stuff."

"Okay, I've got this," said Johnny. He pulled out his cell phone, dialed a number and said, "Hey, I need to—huh? Oh, yeah, this is Johnny Storm. Yes, of the Fantastic Four. Yeah, I—oh, hey, hi, Miss Potts. Listen, is Tony Stark around? This is kind of important."