answers to reviewers questions or statements:

CRUDEN: It'll be one of the last few 'funny' moments in this story I'm afraid. We's about to get into much darker territory.

MalignantSilhouette: That and I think on some level Peter's emotionally unstable to a degree. Like once he gets mad, it's kinda hard for him to reign it in. Love can be a fickle thing, it can cause you to overlook some of the more negative aspects of a person or downplay them in your mind so they don't seem as bad when in reality their toxic as hell. Felicia's not a bad person, but she isn't exactly a good one either.

Disclaimer: I don't own any Marvel characters seen, mentioned or used.


"Your late" were the first words that Yuri said to Peter when he arrived at the Chinatown Precinct half an hour after his 'questioning' of Anthony.

Walter left him an address on where to meet later after his talk with Yuri on what their next plan was now that they had an idea of where Hammerhead was. Peter just hoped that man was still there, he'd rather not deal with the fact that he outright tortured a man to get him to give up his boss's safe house for nothing. Peter was no stranger to using violence to get criminals to talk, but his efforts usually consisted of a few slaps, an occasional punch if he was really desperate and flinging the person around on a web line like they were a yo-yo.

But what he did... Peter knew that there was no going back now.

"Good evening to you too Yuri" Peter said with annoyance as he leaned against the rooftop's railings and folded his arms across his chest "And I was all the way up in Harlem. Not exactly down the block from here. Your lucky I didn't come across anything on the way here or you'd be here till morning"

"Your usually pretty fast in getting in showing when I say I want to talk" Yuri countered with a frown as she took in Peter's suit "Little darker than usual, isn't it? Last I checked, the Avengers already had a black clad spider person running with them"

"Is there something you wanna talk about Yuri?" Peter asked with growing impatience in his tone as he pushed himself off the railing and began to turn to leave "Because if you called me here just to talk fashion than I'm g-"

"I want you to stay away from Hammerhead"

Peter stopped dead at this and stared at Yuri with wide eyes under his suit's lenses. The Police captain looked back at him with a hard expression on her face as she waited for the wall crawler's response. A tense silence grew between the two as they stared at one another until Peter finally responded to his 'partner's' request.

"I'm sorry... but excuse me?" he said as he frowned at the woman "I was standing next to a grenade earlier when it went off and I'm still having a hard time hearing, but I could've sworn you just told me to stay away from Hammerhead"

"I did" Yuri said with a nod as she folded her arms across her chest and took a deep breath before she hardened what resolve she had and stared Peter straight in the eye "Your too close to this"

"I'm too close?" Peter sounded as he quirked his head to the side a little "In what way?"

"Your letting what he did get to you" Yuri said as she gestured towards Peter himself "I mean, just look at you"

"Not any different from any other night" Peter responded with a shrug as he turned his gaze away from Yuri and looked out towards the city around them "Considering where I've been and what I had to deal with, I came out pretty good in comparison"

"If what my men I had sent to the Bar With No Name are telling me is right, than no, you didn't" Yuri said with a pointed glare towards Peter "What the hell were you thinking going in there without any backup?!"

"I needed answers on Hammerhead's location and had no idea how long I had until that intel was gone " Peter answered, still avoiding Yuri's gaze "So, I went in"

The woman frowned at this "Did you get it?"

Peter's lack of an answer did little to set her at ease, as did his reluctance to look at her while she was talking. In the past, he always gave her his undivided attention, but now it looked like he could barely look at her for some reason.

Suddenly a sense of dread filled Yuri's chest as she stared at the dark clad man before her "Spider-man... what did you do?"

"What do you mean?" Peter said as he turned his head slightly towards her.

"What. Did. You. Do?" Yuri repeated, putting more force into each word as she took several steps towards him "Answer me!"

"Nothing" Peter answered with a snarl.

"Bullshit!" Yuri snapped as she jabbed a finger at him "I may not be able to see your face, but I can sure as hell recognize a lie when I hear it"

"I'm not lying-" Peter began before Yuri was suddenly in his face, her own contorted into a dark glare that he's only ever see her use on the worst this city's underworld had to offer.

"Is that your blood on your hands?" Yuri reached out and grabbed one of Peter's hands by the wrist and pulled it up to show there was still some blood on the knuckles of his gloves still.

Peter pulled his hand out of Yuri's grasp and stepped to the side and around the woman "No, and so what? It's not the first time I've had someone's blood on my hands like this. In case you've forgotten, I tend to punch people in the face sometimes, so-"

"You've never punched anyone hard enough to draw blood" Yuri said as she turned towards Peter "Hell, half the time you barely hit them hard enough to leave any serious bruising. But right now, your hands look like you've been caving people's fucking heads in!"

"They'll be fine" Peter said with a snort "They can follow in Hammerhead's lead and get a skull implant"

Though Anthony may have to take after the Winter Soldier and get a brand new arm...

"Jesus fucking Christ, are you hearing yourself right now?" Yuri asked as she gestured towards Peter.

"Yes, I do, your point?" Peter asked with narrowed eyes.

The two long time 'partners' and occasionally friends held one other's gaze, each unwilling to look away. Unfortunately for Yuri, the blood red lenses, the way they seemed to be fitted into a glare were a lot more reflective than the wall crawler's other suits, allowing her to see her own expression in them. With a frustrated sigh, Yuri adverted her gaze and folded her arms across her chest.

"Look, I know you want to find that bastard more than anyone. And I think I have an idea of what you want to do to him when you get your hands on him..." Yuri said as she took a deep breath before looking Peter in he eye as best she could "But you need to back off from this. Let me and my people get him and than-"

"How much is he paying you?" Peter cut her off in a quiet, angered voice.

Yuri blinked at this, once than twice in surprise "W-What did you jus-"

"I said..." Peter said as he stepped towards the woman with a glare on his face that could be felt through his mask "How. Much. Is. Hammerhead. Paying. You?"

Yuri stared at Peter with wide eyes for several moments in complete shock before it quickly gave way to rage "How fucking dare you-"

"I mean it has to be a lot right?" Peter interrupted her as he stepped back "Enough to retire at least. Somewhere tropical I bet"

"D-Do you seriously think I'm telling you to back off because that fucking asshole is paying me to? After everything we've been through, you actually think I'd turn on you just like that?!" Yuri stared at Peter with a mixture of anger, disbelief and... betrayal.

"Yeah well I've been finding out lately that a lot of people I thought I could trust weren't really deserving of it in the fist place" Peter muttered with obvious bitterness.

Neither Peter nor Yuri said anything to one another for several moments, causing the wall crawler to turn away and prepare to shoot a web line out and leave when Yuri's next word froze him to the spot.

"Parker!"

Peter blinked at the sound of his last name and very slowly turned to look back at Yuri with an unreadable expression under his mask. The Police captain had at least the decency to look a little ashamed of outing Peter like that. A part of him always did wonder if Yuri knew who he was under the mask, she was a damn good detective, but she never hinted that she knew or was curious as to who he was. Never asked him certain questions to see if she could build up a profile of who he might be under the mask, see if he'd slip up with a specific response, or even take advantage of him when he was unconscious around her and slip a peek under his mask.

Though at this point, he supposed it didn't matter anymore if or how she found him out.

"Peter... if you keep going after Hammerhead, keep doing what your doing, than I'll have no choice but to bring you in" Yuri said as she took a deep breath "I've tolerated your antics over the years because you aren't like Daredevil or god forbid the Punisher. You don't love people broken or wishing they were dead. You also never let what's happening become personal, you always knew when to step back and-"

"And look how that's gone for everyone!" Peter snapped, causing Yuri to stop and look at him with surprise.

In all her years of working with the wall crawler, she's never heard him sound so... angry. Annoyed yes, and a little upset, but never the raw rage she could see pouring off him with each word he spoke.

"That's all I've ever done with these animals" Peter hissed as he began to approach Yuri, causing her to back up and for a brief moment, have her hand drift to her holstered pistol.

For some reason, this pissed Peter off even more than it should've.

"All I've ever done is treat these assholes like their made of fucking glass. Don't hit them too hard, don't scare them too much, don't belittle and humiliate them all because I thought that some of them deserved a little common decency" Peter growled as he jabbed a finger at Yuri "I did it, so that way I wouldn't have nearly as many of you fucking pricks on my ass every time I went out and did your fucking jobs for you! I held back against the likes of Rhino, Electro, and even fucking Octavius when he was razing this city to the ground and you useless pricks were running around doing jack shit. Men who had hurt, killed and ruined thousands of people's lives because I left them still capable of walking when I should've just left them to die on the fucking street the first time around!"

"Peter you know that isn't-" Yuri began before Peter cut her off again.

"But the moment I decide to stop giving them the kitty gloves treatment, I'm the bad guy? Well you know what? FUCK YOU AND FUCK YOUR MORAL HIGH GROUND!" Peter shouted the last part, causing Yuri to flinch before he turned away and headed for the edge of the building only to stop and turn back to glare at the woman "Don't you ever threaten me again Yuri. And if you get between me and Hammerhead, your gonna find out just how unfriendly I can really be"

And without another word, Peter turned and leaped of the building, leaving Yuri standing alone on the rooftop to watch as he vanished off into the night.

"Goddamit!" Yuri hissed as she pinched the ridge of her nose "Stupid... fucking... shit!"

This was not how she wanted things to go...

With a loud exhale Yuri reached into her pant's pocket and retrieved her phone and began to scroll through a list of contacts before she found the number she was looking for and hit 'dial'.

Several moments passed before the call was answered by a gruff "Yes?"

"Hey, it's Yuri" the woman said with a sigh "I talked to him and you were right, it didn't pan out well. And now it looks like he's about to go on the warpath, screw anyone that gets in his way"

The voice on the other end was quiet for a moment before speaking "I'll talk to him..."

Yuri nodded and was about to hang up before she caught herself "Wait! Don't... don't hurt the kid, okay? He's just... Hammerhead got in his head. And with all that's happened lately, the Devil's Breath, Dock Ock, the kid's Aunt dying and now Black Cat..."

"I'll do what I can Yuri, you know that" the voice said in a softer tone "I don't want to hurt the kid either but if he isn't stopped now, it's only going to get worse"

"I know..." Yuri said with a defeated sigh "It's just... this bullshit, all of it. It fucking blows"

"Oh trust me, I'm fully aware of how fucked things can be" the voice said with grim amusement before it sobered "I'll talk to him in the morning. Give him a few hours to cool off"

"And if that fails?" Yuri asked with dread in her tone "I mean your tough Matt, but Peter's... much as I hate to admit it sometimes, Peter's in a whole different weight class compared to you"

"I know... but if I don't do something about it, certain people are gonna send someone that's in a different weight class to him and that's something I know we both don't want" Matt revealed.

Yuri had no response to that except to nod grimly as the call ended.

...

Despite evidence to the contrary, Mary Jane wasn't a very daring woman when it came to some of her investigations into the Big Apple's criminal underworld.

She didn't have it in her head that Peter was just around the corner to swing in and save her if she got in too deep or that she could either talk or think her way out of any potential issues she might run into.

Before heading off to investigate what she believed was a possible weapons cache for Hammerhead's men out in the Bronx by Morris Heights, she did extensive research on the area, the building the supposed cache was in, and even more extensive surveillance of the location itself before she even began to consider sneaking in. Hammerhead was a different breed of criminal compared to some that Mary Jane's encountered in the past, even when compared to the likes of the Kingpin, Tombstone and even Li. The old school gangster lacked even more morality than the previous three men possessed and so did most of the people he employed.

The reports of what many of Hammerhead's people have done to women her age that got a little too nosy for their own good had almost dissuaded her from checking this place out.

'Thankfully most of the guys here are 'small time compared' to some of his other 'employees'' Mary Jane thought grimly as she discreetly studied the building she was about to infiltrate carefully from a park bench across the street.

There wasn't many of Hammerhead's men outside, partly because the sidewalk it was next to was a bit crowded and partly because they didn't want to risk drawing attention to themselves. A bunch of men dressed like gangsters standing outside a somewhat old and ruined looking building tended to gain some attention, especially with the outbreak of the 'Maggia Civil War' that was starting to gain traction.

'Hopefully none of the other Don's men show up here tonight. This place is gonna be hard enough to slip into as it is' Mary Jane thought as she scanned the windows before she returned to her phone and pretended to watch a few videos on it, which in reality were recordings of some of Hammerhead's men wandering around the building.

So far she's gotten an idea of their 'patrol routes' and their shift changes with the latter about to happen in a few minutes. When the next shift arrived via a van, Mary Jane was going to wander past the front of the building, her ear phones in and pretending to be talking to someone, and make her way towards an alleyway that laid between her target and some old rundown looking apartment complex. Once there, she'll slip in through one of the windows that she found was open at several inches. There were a number of flaws in her plan, she'll admit, but something had these men rattled, she noticed, and a few hours earlier, a large truck was brought in. She didn't know if they were dropping off more weapons and ammo or were loading it up to leave for somewhere else.

Whatever the case, she needed to move, and soon, before too many men take over guarding the place to the point even Peter would be hesitant to try and sneak in or they just pulled out and set up shop somewhere else.

"What I wouldn't give for teleportation powers right about now" Mary Jane sighed before taking several deep breaths.

She than stood up and began to slowly make her way towards the building, slipping her ear phones in and acting like she was talking to someone.

'Okay MJ, time to use those acting skills of yours to some actual use' the red head thought before she breathed out through her nose as she got within several meters of the two Hammerhead goons standing outside "The hell do you mean you wont make it to the party? It's the last one that Flash's throwing before he heads back!"

She paused to simulate the response, making sure to look irritated by what she was hearing as she began to pass the two men "Are you kidding me right now? No that's not okay! He was really looking forward to seeing us all you prick! Now I'm gonna have to tell him that..."

Mary Jane continued on her rant as she passed the men and approached the alley and came to a stop and leaned her back against the wall, allowing her to just barely see he two men in the corner of her eye.

"Fine, you know what? I'll just go myself. And when he asks where your at, I'll be sure to tell him that your too busy getting screwed by some random bimbo you met at the bar last week!" Mary Jane snapped as she ripped her earphones out and let out a frustrated sigh and pinched the ridge of her nose.

She risked a brief glance to see that the two men weren't even remotely paying attention to her and were instead looking at this black SUV that was down the street. She noticed their hands drift towards their waists, likely where they kept their guns. Seeing they were distracted, she quickly peeled around the corner and almost ran towards the window she noticed opened earlier. She slid to a stop and looked around to make sure no one saw her before reaching for the still open window and very carefully began to push it open. She winced as the window dragged and groaned against the frame as it slid up. Once the space was big enough for her to slid through, she pulled herself up and into the building as quietly as she could.

The room was filled with old broken furniture, half rotted panels of wood and several trash bags filled with who knows what. Taking her phone back out, she made sure to place her phone on silent, and to lower the brightness of the screen before she switched it over to the camera app and selected the record option. Once she was rolling, Mary Jane carefully navigated the cluttered space and made her way to the door. Mercifully, the door was unlocked and dint so much as squeak when she opened it enough for her to peek out. Across the hall was another door, half open while to her left was a wall. To her right the hall stretched towards a stair case that went up and down. She stood there and listened for any signs of Hammerhead's men before she pushed the door open more and slid through and into the hallway.

'So far so good...' Mary Jane thought as she crept along the wall towards the stairs, her phone out and recording everything.

Once she reached the stairs, she debated whether to go up or down before she heard several foot steps coming from upstairs. Having her decision made, she quickly made her way downstairs, wincing as one of her footfalls landed on a step that creaked a little too loudly for her liking. Thankfully the man coming downstairs didn't seem to hear it and Mary Jane had reached the bottom and entered through a door just as he reached the floor she came in on.

"Okay... where's the goods?" Mary Jane whispered to herself as she looked around to see that she entered what she figured was the basement.

Thanks to a pair of portable lights plugged into a small generator, the whole room was greatly illuminated, allowing her to see a portion of the wall had been removed that showed a tunnel that seemed to head away from the street outside. Casting a quick glance behind her to make sure she wasn't being followed, Mary Jane cautiously approached the tunnel and listened for anyone coming through. She was a bit surprised that she hadn't heard or ran into anyone else yet, from what she was able to observe, there was at least a dozen men in this place somewhere.

'Hopefully my luck holds a little longer' Mary Jane thought as she made her way down the dark tunnel towards the light at the other end.

As she drew closer, she could make out two men arguing about something. She tried to pick up on what was being said before she realized that the men seemed to be speaking in Russian, or close to it, causing her to scowl in annoyance.

'Why couldn't they speak in Italian or something?' Mary Jane thought as she came to a stop at the end of the tunnel and risked a quick glance to see what was in side.

Her eyes widened at the size of the room she entered, it was easily the size of the entire floor of her apartment... and it was filled to the brim with large wooden crates filled with God knows what, tables lined with guns of all kinds and crates of bullets for them. She even spotted a few of Sable International's armored trucks that looked to have been modified a little. The red head also saw the men she heard arguing earlier, standing by one of the armored trucks, it's doors opened and the hood propped up. They seemed to be arguing about something related to the engine as one of the mobsters gestured towards it while the other shook his head and held up what she assumed was a blueprint of some sort, possibly the truck's.

Very quietly Mary Jane pulled her phone out and began to record the two men, zooming in on their faces so she could try and get ID later before she began to record the rest of the room. From what she saw, there seemed to be enough firepower here for Hammerhead to launch an all out assault on the Avengers.

'What the hell is he planning with this?' Mary Jane thought with a frown 'I know he's gonna need some serious firepower to take over New York's Maggia but this is serious overkill'

It was entirely possible that Hammerhead was setting himself up to be the next Kingpin. Ever since Fisk's imprisonment, a massive hole had been left and every criminal from simple purse snatchers to the Mob, or what was left of it, to even some of the super criminals that Peter deals with were trying to fill the void and become the new Kingpin of Crime.

'God, what would this city look like with Hammerhead being the new Fisk?' Mary Jane thought with dread.

Bad as Fisk was and could be, even he had standards.

Doing her best to stem the growing dread of a Hammerhead Kingpin, Mary Jane slowly slid out from the tunnel she came through and towards a stack of crates that would shield her from the two arguing men. She didn't see anything on their sides that indicated what they were holding, but the red head figured it was something dangerous.

Just than Mary Jane felt her phone vibrate, thankfully she was too far from the two Maggia goons for them to hear, and made to grab it when one of the arguing mobsters let out a curse as he backed away from the engine compartment and shook his hand. Mary Jane froze as for a brief moment she thought he saw her when she realized that his attention was nowhere near her.

"Fucking imported shit!" the man yelled with a notable Eastern European accent as he kicked the Sable APC's bumper.

"But aren't you from like the same area as this thing's makes?" the other Mobster asked with a frown of confusion.

"I'm Czech you fuck" the man snarled as he held up his hand to examine it "This shit's Symkarian..."

"Eh, same thing" the other mobster said as he stole a glance at the vehicle for a moment before he sighed and shook his head "Would've killed them to leave some instructions on how to drive this damn thing? I can't tell if it's an automatic or stick with all the fancy doo-hickies it has"

"Let's just go look this shit up online. Probably find something on YouTube" the Eastern European mobster complained as he cradled his still hurt hand as he turned to leave "And we have to check on that freak upstairs. Been quiet too long"

The man's fellow mobster hummed in agreement and Mary Jane watched the duo head for the tunnel she came through. Letting out a breath she didn't realize she was holding, Mary Jane quickly glanced at her phone to see who called and saw it was Peter. She bit her lip as her thumb hovered over the call button before something out of the corner of her eye caught her attention. Curious, Mary Jane turned to see some sort of harness lying on a table that was covered in wires and parts that she assumed attached themselves to the harness when it was in use.

'These look like the things that Sable's 'flying guys' used... only it's modified I think' Mary Jane thought as she tried to make heads and tails at what she was looking at.

Not for the first nor last time did Mary Jane wish she was a techie like Peter was or even Miles.

'Maybe Peter can figure it out' Mary Jane thought as she held her phone up and began to take pictures of the odd harness.

Once she was certain that she had enough pictures of the harness and sent them to Peter to have a look at, she turned her attention towards the rest of the gear on display. Racks of advance energy rifles, high caliber automatics, body armor that looked like it could stop a cannon, and enough grenades for the red headed reporter to out perform a Fourth of July fireworks show.

As Mary Jane went through some of the equipment, taking photos and videos as she went, she saw Peter try to call her several more times before sending a single text message.

Where are you?

'Subtle Pete... real subtle...' Mary Jane thought with a eye roll before she sent a response and continued her investigation, locating a number of schematics to some sort of... drill, for the lack of a better term.

I'm investigating a storehouse used by Hammerhead. Lots of guns and tech here.

After a few more seconds of searching, Mary Jane's phone went off again and she looked to see it was another message from Peter.

I figured that from the pictures, I mean where is this place?

"God I hope this isn't gonna be a freakin repeat of last time" Mary Jane said with a sigh as she texted her response.

Over in the Bronx, by Morris Heights. Don't worry I'm leaving now.

She actually wasn't, not yet at least, but if she didn't put Peter at ease he was gonna come swooping in like last time. She couldn't blame him for being a little... on edge, after what happened to Felicia, someone that even Mary Jane thought as nigh unkillable. But she couldn't let that fear keep her from doing her job, something that she will freely admit to learning from Peter.

A few seconds later, Peter responded-

Alright... I'll swing by and pick you up, Hammerhead's people aren't gonna be in a good mood. And... we need to talk. About all this, Hammerhead I mean. And other things that've come up.

Mary Jane frowned at this, a sense of dread building within 'What does he mean by that?'

Before Mary Jane could respond, a sudden scraping sound emanated from behind her, causing the red head to turn around in time to see something duck behind a crate. Whatever dread and curiosity was feeling from Peter's text was instantly replaced with fear. She quickly turned and made to head for the door when something suddenly slammed into her back, sending her skidding across the floor.

"GAH!" Mary Jane sounded as she slid across the uneven and cracked concrete floor before she came to a stop a few meters from where she was just standing.

Her back felt like someone took a bat to it and the red headed reporter found her vision briefly blur as she tried to regain her bearings. She could see someone move just out of her line of sight, but every time she tried to turn and see who it was, they moved again. Eventually May Jane gave up and simply tried to climb back to her feet when she felt someone grab her by the ankle. A startled scream escaped Mary Jane as she was dragged a few feet across the floor before she was lifted up and thrown into the air and towards the Sable APC, landing just a few feet from the armored vehicle.

"Oh I love it when they scream!"

Mary Jane looked up to see who was attacking her and was greeted to the sight of a man dressed in what she could only assume was some sort of parody of Peter's Spider-man suit, his original before he switched to his 'Advance Suit'. The basic design was largely the same but the colors were inverted, the blue being red and the red being blue. The web design for the suit was white, while the man's mask sported blood red lenses, much smaller than Peter's own and more round in shape rather than the near tear dropped or slightly curved cone shapes Peter's lenses normally were.

It only took a second for Mary Jane to recognize the man... it was Michael Bingham, the Blood Spider.

Almost a year ago the Kingpin had Michael, who at the time was a random homeless man he picked up off the streets, pumped full of a wide array of chemicals and god knows what other kind of drugs in an effort to create his own version of Spider-man. For the most part it work, Michael's strength was almost up to Peter's level, as well as his speed and agility and even flexibility.

The only thing he lacked to be a true match for Peter was a spider-sense and a stable mind.

'The exact kind of guy you don't want to be trapped in a room with Mary Jane thought with growing panic as she slowly climbed back to her feet 'He could kill me with as much effort as it takes for me to peel an orange'

She could hear her phone vibrating and saw it lying at Michael's feet. She swallowed nervously as Michael glanced down at the phone for a moment, quirked his head in curiosity, before stepping on it. The red head flinched at the sound of glass and plastic breaking under the man's foot along with a pang of annoyance.

She had just bought the damn thing.

"Oopsie" Michael said in a far to cheerful tone as he scrapped bits of the shattered phone off his foot "Hope that wasn't expensive"

"No" Mary Jane said, glad that her voice hadn't wavered or revealed the very real fear she was experiencing.

She casted a brief glance at the tunnel that she came through earlier and mentally frowned at how far it was from her. Michael would run her down long before she got to it and kill her.

"Aww, trying to leave already?" Michael said with a giggle as he took a step towards her, causing the red head to step back before she bumped into a table littered with pieces of one of the Sable rifles.

Mary Jane flinched at the sound of one of the rifle's buttstocks falling to he floor, causing the Blood Spider to laugh in grim amusement.

"Careful there cutie, don't want to break nothin" the man said as he turned his to the side and very obviously eyed the woman up and down.

"W-What are you doing here Michael?" Mary Jane asked nervously as she carefully moved her hand behind her and began to feel around for something to use.

She just had to leave her Taser at home.

"I work here" Michael said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world "Well actually I live here but same thing. Kinda. Question is, what are you doing here?"

"Just... got lost" Mary Jane said as she her hand brushed against the grip of something and her finger slowly rested on the trigger.

Her body largely blocked what her arm was doing behind her back, and Michael didn't seem to be focusing on anything else except her chest. At least she hoped that was the case, it was always difficult to tell when Peter was looking at her face when he looked at her with his mask on, and secretly it annoyed her a little.

"Got lost, got lost, got lost..." Michael repeated a few times as his head moved from side to side "Hmmm, you seem familiar, have we met before?"

"Probably saw me on TV" Mary Jane said as she gripped whatever it was that she had in her hand tighter and prepared to bolt towards the-

"Their not loaded"

Mary Jane blinked at this and looked at the man with confusion "What?"

"The gun your holding behind your back" Michael nodded towards Mary Jane's partially concealed arm with a growing smirk under his mask "I unloaded them all yesterday. Just in case"

Mary Jane didn't bother with a response, she picked up the pistol looking weapon and threw it towards Michael before she broke off into a sprint towards the tunnel. Michael laughed as he causally swiped the gun away before it hit him and watched the red headed woman try to escape. Licking his lips, he held up a hand and shot off a single web line and caught one of Mary Jane's legs before giving the web a slight tug, causing the red head to topple over, just meters from the tunnel.

"Oh don't run cutie, I was looking forward to talking with you some more!" the man said with a laugh that was far to chipper for Mary Jane's liking as he slowly approached her.

She reached for the webbing on her leg and ripped it away, secretly thankful it was nowhere near Peter's level of strength, and started to climb back t her feet when Michael was suddenly in front of her. Mary Jane froze and quickly backpedaled as the man reached out to grab her when suddenly a dark blur shot out from the tunnel and slammed into him. Mary Jane narrowly avoided being hit by the mass of limbs and swearing, most of the latter being from Michael before the man was suddenly kicked away into a pile of heavy wooden crates.

"Just about to leave huh?"

Mary Jane stared at Peter with wide eyes, he wasn't in the new suit Otto had help make nor was it the classic and iconic red and blue suit he wore for years. It was the dark suit that Felicia had left him when she led Peter on a merry chase throughout the city. She saw it once when she was over at Peter's, helping him move into his new place and noted that it was a drastic change from his usual motif. Black with ruby red coloring that gave Peter a far more intimidating look that she was used to seeing from him. Add in the obvious damage he's received after a night on the streets, and the way his lenses were narrowed at the sight of Michael, Mary Jane actually felt a chill crawl up her spine.

Peter's head suddenly turned slightly towards her and if possible, his masked face seemed to darken even more "Get out of here. I'll meet you back at your place"

"How'd you find me?" Mary Jane asked, ignoring Peter's request and the groaning mess that was Michael as he clawed his way out from beneath the destroyed crates Peter buried him under.

"Cops in a car outside watching this place radioed that Michael-" Peter nodded in the Blood Spider's direction "Was seen entering this place. Once they gave the location, I decided to come in and get you myself"

"Good thing you did, huh?" Mary Jane said with a faint grin in the hopes to lighten the mood that Peter seemed to be in.

"...Yeah, lucky" Peter said in a low tone as he slowly turned back towards Michael as the man finished freeing himself of the crates "Now leave. I took care of the Maggia upstairs, you should be home free"

"But Peter I could-" Mary Jane began before Peter turned towards her with a snarl that she could feel through his mask.

"I can't fight him if I'm worried about you getting caught in the middle of this. Now for once in your fucking life, DO. AS. I. SAY!" Peter yelled, causing the red head to flinch.

Under normal circumstances Peter would've been ashamed of speaking to her like that, but the very real danger she was in right now seemed to be completely oblivious to her. Michael was an insane compulsive man child that won't hesitate to try and go after Mary Jane the moment he get's an opening, just for the satisfaction of hurting Peter in any shape or form, and with his spider powers being near to par with Peter's own, he very well could pull it off. She needed to get out of here before this place turned into a all out war zone between the two.

Mary Jane stared at Peter with an angered and hurt expression on her face before she turned and ran for the tunnel that would lead her to the room that she used to sneak in earlier.

Once Peter was sure that Mary Jane was safe, out of the room at the very least, he returned his attention back to Michael with a glare "Wondered where you scurried off to after you escaped from the Raft, Michael. Have to say, I'm completely un-surprised you ended up working for Hammerhead of all people"

The mentally unhinged man scoffed at this "How do you know I'm working for him and not just for myself? Things have changed since we last saw each other"

"Because your too stupid!" Peter snapped as he reloaded his web shooters, never once taking his eyes off the man in front of him "And you strike me as the type of freaks that Hammerhead attracts. Fisk goon washouts, failed super soldiers, idiots who live in fantasy land and think their the actual Spider-man. Surprise, surprise, you happen to check off all the requirements"

Michael growled at this before he glanced in the direction Mary Jane went "Hmmm, already have yourself a new girl toy to play with? And the old one isn't even cold in the ground yet... tisk, tisk, tisk Spidey"

Peter's response was a shot of webbing towards the man's chest before yanking right into a fist that created a small shock wave as the force of the blow snapped the deranged man's head to the side and sent him flying across the room and into the side of the Sable APC...

...


And done.

Next chapter, Spider-man vs Blood Spider!