"You better get home soon. I'm looking out the living room window at a huge black cloud."
"Aww," I cradled my cell phone between my shoulder and ear as I reached into my wallet for my debit card. "Is Mama Gwen worried?"
"Ha ha, not funny MJ." I could almost see Gwen's dour face as she spoke through the phone, "I just don't want to hear you whining about your soggy groceries when you get home."
I paid the cashier then hoisted the paper bag of groceries onto my hip. "I'm looking at nothing but baby blue skies over this way, Gwendy. How was your first day of class?" I walked out of the grocery store and immediately noticed the eery calm that had settled down upon the city, the kind of calm that lays over the city before a torrential downpour. "Okay, so maybe there's a little storm brewing..."
"Yup." Gwen replied with that 'I'm not going to say I told you so but... I told you so' tone in her voice. "l'll tell you about class when you get here. I'll be waiting outside the apartment with an umbrella. Hurry up and you might be able to miss it."
We hung up and I peered up into the blue sky. Hidden behind the peaks of skyscrapers, an inky black cloud was beginning to blow over the sun. I was only a five minute walk from the apartment and so, I decided to speed-walk myself home rather than pay $20 for a cab.
There was no one on the sidewalks. I furrowed my brow, looking around me. Where had everyone gone? It was so unlike the city to be this calm in the middle of the day.
"I guess everyone else got the memo about rain today..." I began to walk more quickly, picking my foot back up as soon as it brushed the boiling-hot sidewalk. Far ahead of me, I saw two men look my way then dart into an alleyway. My walk slowed to a halt.
"What the-" I narrowed my eyes. Something wasn't right. The street was too uncharacteristically quiet. I began to feel my skin ripple into goosebumps as my subconscious urged me to turn around and run the other way. Find safety. Get away from here, although nothing on the surface seemed wrong.
"Pick up the pace, princess." I crossed the street to walk on the sidewalk furthest from the two mystery men in the alley.
I'm walking fast and I'm frightened, too frightened to glance down the streets and alleyways as I pass them. I want to be home, tucked in my bed, safe from the storm and this eery feeling I can't seem to shake. An apple rolls out of the grocery bag balanced haphazardly on my hip but I don't stop to pick it up. I'm less than six blocks away from home. I can make it - I can make it if I don't stop.
From my peripheral, I see the two men emerge from the alleyway across the street. They're running towards me. I begin to run but I don't even make it past another street before I feel hands on my waist, yanking me into an alley.
The black storm cloud rolls over and I'm swathed in total darkness. I'm screaming, struggling against an unknown number of assailants. My first scream echoes on into oblivion, the heavy clouds reverberating my cry through the empty street; my subsequent screams are drowned out by the loud claps of thunder.
I've dropped my bag of groceries and I'm swinging my arms; clawing, scratching and punching at everything within arm's length of me. A bolt of lightning, iridescent and blinding, illuminates the alleyway. Four men dressed in black, surrounding me, reaching for me.
"Enough!" One of the men screams as they all struggle to grab hold of me. He grabs me by the shoulders and pushes me into the wall of the alley. I have enough wits about me to catch myself before my face can crack against the brick. I turn again to face them, back pressed against the wall. It's raining now and I can hear the wind howling through the brick passageway. I can't see the men, only their shadowy outlines.
"Call Fisk. Tell them we have her." The same man speaks then moves forward to grab me. Before he can grip my arm, a figure drops from the sky and lands in between us.
"Come on, guys," The figure speaks, his voice lilting in merriment. "It ain't a party without the Spider!"
I hear a familiar "thwip" sound and then utter chaos breaks loose. I'm too disoriented to understand what is going on. The only thing I know is this: The thugs are preoccupied with the figure and this is my chance to get away. I stumble from the alleyway, slipping against the wet pavement as I flee. The heavens have broken open and the world is dark. I fight the wind and pelting rain. I hear men screaming behind me but I don't know if the screams are in triumph or pain.
I want to run to my apartment but I can't lead the assailants there. Gwen is there.
I run until my lungs begin to burn and then I run some more. I turn down one street, then another, and then another. The rain is beginning to let up but the dark clouds and wind remain. Finally, I let myself collapse behind an empty dumpster in the corner of an alley far from the grocery store.
I sit in silence, praying that the men haven't followed me. From the mouth of the alleyway, I can hear muffled footsteps. I hold my breath.
They've found me.
I'm trapped with nowhere to run or hide.
Just as it was with the Rhino, I refused to feel like a cornered rat. I jumped to my feet and blindly ran at the thugs, my voice carrying on like a wild Banshee woman.
"Mary Jane!" Someone's arms were around me. I was so frightened that I barely heard my name. I thought to myself, if I was going to die, someone was going to come with me and I continued to fight against the assailant, screaming louder as I wailed against their solid body. "Mary Jane!"
The assailant gripped my shoulders and held me at arm's length. "Look at me, Mary Jane! I'm your friend. I'm not going to hurt you, I swear!"
I slowed my reign of punches as I realized who was holding me. My arms went limp at my sides, eyes wide as dinner plates.
"SPIDER-MAN!"
"Having all the fun without me, eh?" Had there not been a mask covering his face, surely I would have seen a giant grin upon Spider-Man's face.
"Where have you been?" I found nothing funny about the current situation. Angrily I shrugged his grip from my shoulders. "You've been gone for seven months! I thought-" I suddenly choked on the words, "I thought you were dead!"
Spider-Man raised his hands, palms up to mime his innocence, then dropped them again and stood deathly still, at a loss for words.
"I was in a coma, Spider-Man." The tears I had felt clinging to my bottom lashes were sucked back in as anger replaced any sense of sorrow I might have felt. "Yeah, you saved me... but when I woke up everyone told me you had died in saving me. I thought I had killed you!... Do you know what that kind of guilt feels like?"
He said nothing. Simply stood there in silence.
"Say something!" I poked him hard in the chest. "Say something!" Again, I poked him harder. His torso shook with each blow but he remained mute. "Gah! Infuriating!" I sighed in exasperation, throwing my hands into the air.
"I know." His voice was deep, ominous.
"You know what?" I threw the words at him like venom.
"I know you were in a coma." He paused then spit out this words as though he was uncertain he should say them. "I came and checked on you often."
I was stunned. I blinked, unable to find the right words to reply.
"I'll let you in on a little secret." He wagged his index finger at me, anger icing his words. "It's not fun being Spider-Man. It's not fun watching the people around you die. I wanted out."
"Wh-what?"
He shook his head, painfully aware of the truths that were spilling from him like vomit. "Those men who attacked you- they're dangerous. They weren't your average street thugs. Where they came from, there's a lot more just like them."
"Webhead," I spoke softly, apologetically, "You're changing the subject."
"Listen, this is important." He sighed and laced his fingertips atop his head. As he put his words together he began to pace the alleyway. "They're after you."
"...come again?" Incredulity seeped through my tone.
"Those were Wilson Fisk's men." He didn't look at me, instead choosing to stare down at the pavement as he paced.
"Who is that?" I was suddenly feeling nauseous.
"Haven't you been watching the news?" He stopped pacing and turned to look at me.
"Uh, no. Why would I need to do that?"
He shook his head, "The Kingpin. I've been keeping a close eye on him for the past couple of months. He was just a pest before... I let him slide under my radar. I just wanted to be done with the mask... and I figured the police could handle him... but lately, he's dropped off the map. He's planning something... something big..."
"Spider-Man," I took a step closer to him, "What does the Kingpin want with me?"
"...he's going to use you as bait to get to me..."
Author's Note:so, I totally was supposed to wait on these chapters but... I couldn't! hehe yay for the Kingpin! Yay for Spidey! Yay for more reviews! Seriously guys, the reviews were so helpful. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
As always, let me know what you think!