MJ didn't know what to do. Peter had been taken over by the symbiote. She wasn't sure why she wasn't already dead. What could she do? Fighting was obviously out of the question. Could she run? No; there was no way she could even get to the window before being wed-grabbed. Part of her wanted to scream for May's help, but then this would be her problem, too. If MJ was about to die, there was no point in May dying with her.
If the symbiote hadn't killed her yet, maybe there was a reason; perhaps it was a reason she could use to live even longer.
"You aren't going to kill me, are you?" she said, feigning confidence.
"That hasn't been decided yet."
MJ fell silent, trying not to let the symbiote know how terrified she was. Thankfully, Peter's back was still turned to her, so he wouldn't see her shaking and sweating . . . unless the symbiote didn't need Peter's eyes to see.
MJ tried to figure out that aforementioned reason for her continued life. "Oh, duh," MJ thought. "If he kills me now, he'll have to explain to May and the authorities why there's a dead girlfriend in his room." She would have thought of it sooner if she wasn't so rattled.
"There's no reason to overcomplicate things," MJ said, keeping her voice confident. "We can act like this conversation never happened."
"If you're going to lie to me, at least think of something more believable. You won't just forget this and date me like you think I'm him. And frankly, I've seen enough of you to know I don't want you. What hasn't been decided is whether you will die here or leave us alone . . . forever."
At first, she was crushed. Both these options sounded horrid. But then MJ figured it out and she didn't need to fake her confidence anymore. "Killing me or breaking up with me would make Spider-Man pretty mad at you. I don't think you want to take that risk."
"I have Spider-Man under my control."
MJ . . . laughed? It was a small giggle; all that could be hoped for in terms of laughing under these circumstances. But that small laugh was enough to convince the symbiote to turn around, letting MJ see Peter's face gripped with black tendrils and eyes and mouth completely covered in black goo. MJ just barely managed not to flinch. "What about this amuses you?" the symbiote asked.
"If you were so sure you can keep Spider-Man caged up forever, you never would have tried to make this 'mutually beneficial.' You've been in his head long enough to know that Spider-Man always finds a way to win, come alien invasion or legions of supervillains. He's been in worse spots before and you know it. Eventually, he's going to find an opportunity to break free. And when he does . . . well, we all know that Spider-Man doesn't kill people. Unless they hurt those closest to him. So, no, you're not going to touch me or send me away, never to be seen again. Now that you've lost the element of 'mutually beneficial,' you only have one real option."
The symbiote didn't say anything to deny what MJ said. She had it. The symbiote was actually waiting to hear what that option was.
MJ leaned forward, smiling smugly and whispered, "Run."
"You have a point about Spider-Man. He just might find a way to break free if he lives long enough."
MJ's blood ran cold as she realized what she'd done. All confidence she'd earned was instantly lost.
Peter's arms, now covered in black tendrils, moved slowly toward his head with plans to break his neck. But it was slow. Apparently, the symbiote was struggling to force Peter's body to obey its commands. That was why Peter had just been standing there this whole time. Realizing this limitation, Mary Jane felt free to frantically run to him and grab his arms, making the prosses even slower. She could still feel his arms rising; she knew she couldn't keep this up forever.
"Wait!" MJ exclaimed, barely keeping herself from screaming for May's sake. The symbiote continued as if she said nothing. "I can get Peter to accept you!"
The symbiote stopped. "Go on," it prompted.
MJ had to think fast, having not thought things through before suggesting the idea. "Okay, uh, you, if I'm not mistaken, you messed with Peter's personality because it was the only way to make him selfish, make money-focused decisions and get him to keep you."
"Yes," the symbiote confirmed, surprising MJ with how accurate her guess was.
"Well, what if I make Peter selfish so you don't have to? If you stop making him a jerk, I can get him to do what's best for us. I'll tell him he could really use your powers for good and there would be no chance he would get rid of you."
This was an enticing idea. The symbiote had once failed to subjugate Spider-Man and then failed to beat him with Eddie. MJ's solution might have been the only way to have Spider-Man, its ideal host.
The was a moment of silence. And then the symbiote said, "You get one chance." The black ooze reseeded from Peter's face, into his clothing.
"What happened?!" Peter breathed.
"Do you not remember?" MJ asked.
"The last thing I remember was you saying 'You've taken it off before . . .' and then I blacked out.
"So . . . uh, slight change of plans," MJ said timidly. "Have you tried reasoning with the symbiote?"
Peter looked at her, waiting for her to tell him he was joking only for him to tell her it wasn't funny.
"While you were out, I spoke with the symbiote."
"Wait, what?!" Peter said aghast.
"Don't panic, don't panic! As it turns out, the reason it was making you a jerk was so you wouldn't throw it away," MJ explained.
"Yeah, that and so I would work for Green Goblin."
"YOU WERE WOR . . . that's a conversation for later," MJ said, recomposing herself.
"Yes, we'll talk about that after I get this symbiote off of me."
"No, no, no! Wait a minute!" MJ said, stepping between Peter and the door, knowing the symbiote would kill him if she didn't stop him. "Just taking a stab in the dark, but I'm guessing that the Green Goblin forced the symbiote on you and if he could do that, you might need some extra muscle to beat him."
Peter shut his eyes and facepalmed, knowing she was right. The last time he fought Green Goblin, he got massacred. He needed some kind of edge.
"So," MJ continued, "You could, you know, see how this goes. Take down Green Goblin while I listen in to make sure you're acting like your same old friendly neighborhood self."
"It's too dangerous. The symbiote is evil! It only wants to consume and kill."
"Not necessarily. Maybe the symbiote just wants to be loved?"
"What?!" Peter said, disgusted by how weird she was sounding.
"Think about it. The symbiote wants a host that will stick with it. The symbiote tried to take revenge on you for rejecting it. Maybe it was only evil because it's sick of being treated like it's just a suit?"
As baffling as it sounded at first, MJ's theory held up when Peter thought about his history with the symbiote.
"And if you treat it like it matters, maybe it won't destroy everything," MJ suggested. She wasn't even sure if she believed what she was saying about the symbiote; she just needed to keep Peter from provoking it. To make things trickier, she didn't want to just tell Peter that he might die if he tries to remove the symbiote because she thought it might ruin her chances of getting Peter to trust the symbiote. And if that happened, the symbiote might be able to sense his lack of trust and snap his neck. "Superheroes believe in redemption, right?"
"It's too risky," Peter said, shaking his head.
"Buuuuut, whaat kind of hero would Spider-Man be if he never took any risks?"
Peter turned away from her and leaned against the nearest wall.
"Like I said before, just take down Green Goblin and I'll let you know if you're acting like a jerk again. We'll figure out the rest later."
Peter didn't hear that voice in his head like he usually did while making decisions under the symbiote's influence. He could tell that the symbiote was letting him make this decision himself. That was a good sign. Maybe he could keep it on just for a little while. MJ seemed to think it was a good idea and she was the one who spoke with it.
"Fine," Peter said, desperate for his edge against Green Goblin. "But I'm burning this thing the first time it tries anything!"
"Oooorr . . ." MJ said, worrying that Peter was pushing dangerous buttons, "you could give the symbiote a fair trial the same way you would with a human. Because equal rights for all intelligent lifeforms, right?" MJ felt embarrassed. She wasn't sure if she was stupidly talking nonsense about matters she didn't know enough about.
But Peter surprisingly didn't look like he was reacting to the dumbest thing he'd ever heard. "I'll keep that in mind," Peter said begrudgingly.
"You will?" MJ thought in surprise, catching herself when she almost said it out loud.
"I need to do something now. There's not much time left," Peter said, pulling out his phone. He made a call and when it was picked up, Peter said, "Hey, man. . . . No, nothing's wrong; I just need to move up the time table on saving your parents. We need to do that now. Go to that place we talked about. I'll meet you there as soon as I possibly can."
Peter's clothes morphed into the image of his red and blue suit. He also put on the real red mask for its built-in tech. Putting on the red and blue colors was a tactical decision; he didn't want Green Goblin to see that he was wearing the black symbiote because it would prompt him to use the gliders' noise makers on him again.
Spider-Man and MJ found May sitting on a couch in the living room, listening to something with her laptop that must have drowned out their conversation. Spider-Man said cautiously, "Okay, May, don't freak out."
"Why should I freak out?" May asked suspiciously.
"I'm . . . kind of wearing the symbiote."
"WWHAAAT?!" May shrieked.
"I SAID DON'T FREAK OUT!" Spider-Man shouted, having been on edge to begin with.
"How long have you had it on?" May asked, though she had the correct suspicion.
"Since right before I told you that rubbish about Norman being innocent."
"Then that means . . ."
"Yeah." Spider-Man winced with shame. "I have a thousand regrets and I'll talk to you two about them as soon as I can, but I need to help someone right this second."
"No! Peter, you have to take it off!" May demanded concernedly.
"I kind of need it."
"You understand how bad that sounds, don't you?"
"MJ can explain everything. I have to go. It's not safe here. I need you both to get somewhere Green Goblin would never think to look. And, May, bring your gun. Long story short, I need to fight Green Goblin and he knows about you two. I'm taking him down tonight and let you know when it's done."
"You're not thinking straight! You can't keep it on!" May said, walking after him as he started for the exit. MJ physically stopped May, desperate not to set off the symbiote's wrath again. MJ held May tight and strained to not let her move any closer to Spider-Man. "MJ, what are you doing?!"
And then Spider-Man was gone. "It would have killed Peter," MJ said, getting May to stop struggling.
"What?"
"The symbiote took control of his body and almost snapped his neck. I had to convince Peter to keep the symbiote; it was the only way to make it stop. But the good news is, it might not affect Peter's personality anymore."
May plopped herself back onto the couch, having no idea what to do about this.
"Come on," MJ said. "You heard Peter; we need to get someplace safe."
As Spider-Man swung toward the meeting place, he couldn't stop thinking about what MJ said. If the symbiote was a person unto itself, maybe it was someone he could talk to. "You want to be treated like more than just a suit? Alright, let's talk," he said, addressing the symbiote. "You ruined Eddie's life."
"YOU RUINED EDDIE'S LIFE!" The symbiote's voice thundered in Spider-Man's mind. Apparently, they could have a conversation. "I gave Eddie power and you sent him to prison."
"Because you made him try to kill me!"
"I knew that you wanted me dead. You tried to kill me before and, admit it, if you had known I was alive before we attacked you, you would have tried to kill me again."
"So you dragged Eddie into our war," Spider-Man growled.
"Eddie hated you. You give him so much forgiveness while giving me none, but Eddie and I were united in our goals. Maybe he regrets his decisions now, but he wanted you dead even more than I did."
"Right because you never influence your host's decisions," Spider-Man said sarcastically. "You made me a jerk; you almost made me a supervillain."
"I pushed you to realize your ambition," the symbiote argued. "You always wanted to be rich, but you never do what's best for yourself. You would have had us living with your aunt forever, exchanging photos for pocket change when we could have everything!"
"At what cost?"
"If we listen to your girlfriend, none. I thought she was annoying at first, but I'm realizing she talks sense."
"You're sure this is the place?" Spider-Man asked.
"Yeah. I think they're held on a lower floor," Danger said.
"Alright. Here's the plan. I'm going in to find your parents. You stay here and keep a look out while I'm in there."
"What?! You want me to just sit around doing nothing?"
Spider-Man took a moment to measure his emotions. If he was under the symbiote's usual form of aggression boosting influence, he would be far angrier with Danger. Maybe the symbiote was playing nice after all. Spider-Man explained in a calm and respectful voice, "I'm taking the hard part because I've been doing this longer. It might sound pointless, but knowing Green Goblin is coming would be a huge help and if he does show up, we can fight him together. Plus, you watching the exits would mean they wouldn't be able to move your parents somewhere else while I'm busy inside."
Danger nodded, considering Spider-Man's words. "Alright, alright. I'll be the lookout guy."
"Great. Remember; if you see reinforcements coming, call me. And circle around the place every once in a while, so you're keeping track of all the exits."
Danger gave Spider-Man a salute. "Aye, aye, captain."
"See you in a few minutes," Spider-Man said before swinging off to find a vent to crawl through or whatever way into the building.
"Glad he's in a better mood," Danger mumbled to himself, remembering Spider-Man's behavior during the bank robbery.
What Danger didn't know was that Spider-Man already guessed that the parents were already moved. Apart from actually wanting to know if Green Goblin was coming, his reason for placing Danger on lookout was so he wouldn't hear the conversation he was about to have.
Spider-man crawled on the ceiling above the cronies who were moving equipment. They weren't the ones he needed to talk to.
There! A man in a lab coat ordering someone around. Spider-Man waited for a moment when no one would notice and web-grabbed the scientist. He brought him to an otherwise uninhabited storage room and said, "The hostages. Where have they been moved?"
"What are you doing? Green Goblin said you were working for us now," the scientist said, validating Spider-Man's decision to leave Danger outside and out of earshot.
"Don't worry about that. Focus on the hostages. Where are they?"
"If I tell you, he'll-"
"Green Goblin doesn't have to know it was you."
"I'm the only one here who knows their location; if you find the hostages, he'll know it was me," the scientist said, pleadingly.
Spider-Man thought, "Alright. If he's afraid to die, I can work with that. He knows I'm wearing the symbiote and he doesn't know it stopped making me crazy. Let's take advantage of that."
Spider-Man said out loud, "Maybe Green Goblin might kill you . . . if I don't take him down and if he isn't understanding and if he doesn't already have someone who could replace you. And it might be painful. But if you don't tell me what I want to hear . . ." Slowly and ominously, Spider-Man's suit changed to its black ooze appearance. The change crept over him as Spider-Man slowly tightened his grip on the scientist's neck. "then I will kill you. And I'm going to make it hurt. If you won't talk, you're useless to me and I'm sure there's some place where I can find someone who knows where the hostages are."
"You wouldn't!"
Spider-Man made his voice sound desperate. "Normally, I wouldn't . . . But I'm so hungry." His mask stretched, tearing open a mouth that grew long teeth. He grabbed the scientist's arm and moved it toward his spreading jaws."
"OSCORP TOWER!" the scientist screamed. "They're being held at Oscorp Tower!"
The mask went back to it's previous shape. "We're pleased to see you're cooperating," Spider-Man said in character. "Now that you're willing to talk, you should know that if you send us to the wrong place, we'll find you again. We've caught your sent and there's no where you can go to hide from us. You only get this one chance to change your final answer. Are the hostages held at Oscorp Tower?"
"Yes! They are! Don't eat me!" the scientist pleaded.
"Perfect," Spider-Man said enthusiastically before knocking the scientist out with a hit to the head. With that over, Spider-Man changed his suit back to red and blue.
An armored guard burst through the door and shouted, "What's going on in here?!"
"Uh . . . would you believe this isn't what it looks like?" Spider-Man said, looking at the unconscious scientist.
Another guard behind the first one shouted, "It's Spider-Man! Get the rats over here!"
"The rats?" Spider-Man questioned in confusion. But then he remembered Vermin. And the phone call with Yori in which she explained that there were two more giant rats just like that one.
Author's Note: Thank you for reading. Don't forget to follow, review and check out my YouTube channel. Go to YouTube and type into the search bar –
Couple Reviews by MVPKnight