Michelle "MJ" Jones

Things returned to normal… I guess. I had mixed feelings about that.

On one hand, it did feel good to be in my own room again. Don't get me wrong, the room I had in the safe house was nice, and I didn't mind sharing a room with the other ladies in my circle while we were crashing at Craig's folks' house. But my room was one of those places where I just felt safe at – it was my Fortress of Solitude, as Peter would call it.

On the other hand, the novelty of being back at home wore off real quick. While the discussion Spider-Man and Spider-Man-related topics was still banned, I could still see the look of approval on my dad's face whenever the news talked about Kraven being the "new" Spider-Man. At school, all the talk was about the X-Men and if they were done for. A bit to my surprise, there were a group of students who were happy that Spider-Man was down for the count, and they're even trying to start a Kraven Fan Club. It pissed me off. Not only did they put me in a position where I was actually on Flash's side for something, but they were somehow even more annoying than the "Thanos Was Right" folks.

Ugh, fuck them!

Speaking of Flash…

On Tuesday, Ned, Betty, and I were in the library at school, studying for different classes when Flash walked up to us and tossed a newspaper in front us.

"Y'all see this shit?" he asked. I picked up the newspaper and looked at it. I had to suppress a sigh. There was Kraven, shaking hands with Martin Li, head of F.E.A.S.T. Right over that picture was the headline.

"'Kraven pledges support for F.E.A.S.T.'," I muttered. I tossed the paper back on the table and looked over at Ned and Betty. Ned shook his head as Betty rolled her eyes. I looked at Flash. "What do you want me to say?" Underneath it all, I was worried about how Peter was taking the news, or how he'd take it if he hadn't heard it yet. Last time, when Justin Hammer pledged support to F.E.A.S.T., Peter wanted to break something. I could only imagine how pissed he would be about this.

Flash scoffed. "It's bullshit! Kraven's just using F.E.A.S.T. to get a good rep!"

"I'm not saying you're wrong," Betty spoke up. "As a matter of fact, you're right. But, you're the last person to talk."

Flash glared at her. "Oh really? And why's that?"

"Dude, you keep on telling people that Spider-Man is your best friend!" Ned pointed out. "You keep using his name for clout!"

Flash sneered at Ned. "That's different! I actually know Spider-Man! We actually hung out before he was forced into hiding." I bit my tongue. As much as I wanted to call him out, I couldn't. For me to do that, I'd have to reveal that I actually know Spider-Man on an intimate level. Assuming Flash believed me, the whole school would know by the end of the week, and I really didn't want to deal with the potential headaches that could cause. "Anyway, if I was the head of F.E.A.S.T., I wouldn't take his support."

"Flash, sweetie, I hate Kraven as much as you do," Betty said. "But, no matter the reason Kraven is doing it, F.E.A.S.T. can benefit a lot from his support and use it for the greater good. So, regardless of how we feel about Kraven, F.E.A.S.T. is not going to look a gift horse in the mouth."

Flash frowned. "Whatever. I'm going to go live on Snapchat to voice my displeasure."

"Just don't talk about how Spider-Man's your best friend," I said as he walked away. "I don't want to deal with Midtown being investigated… again."

Wednesday rolled around. You want to guess what happened?

In the morning, after I got done showering, I went about getting dressed. I went through the shirts in my closet before my eyes landed on a certain shirt. This one belonged to Peter. It was a University of Richmond t-shirt. It was white with black sleeves and had a large red spider logo on the front of it. I first wore it back in Palm Springs the night before the X-Men invaded Justin Hammer's secret facility. I held on to it, along with quite a few pieces of clothing that belonged to Peter. I shrugged my shoulders and put it on. I then put on a pair of black jeans with a matching zip-up hoodie and pair of Chuck Taylors, also black. Once I was ready, I grabbed my backpack and my lunchbox before I headed out.

When I got to school, it was about 6:30 in the morning. As I was walking up, I saw a bunch of black SUVs out front. I narrowed my eyes, but I kept it moving. Once I was inside, I made my way towards the library. However, as I approached the library, I saw two men in front of the door. Both of them were wearing FBI jackets. Something was going on.

I changed directions, heading towards the cafeteria. After I reached it, I stepped inside and scanned the area before I walked over to my normal spot. As expected, Ned and Betty were there. I took my seat in front of them.

"So, the FBI is here," I said as I sat down.

"We know," Betty said bitterly. "They're not the only ones who are here. Kraven's men are here as well."

I tilted my head. "Why?"

"Flash doesn't listen," Ned grumbled. "He went live yesterday and basically acted like he knows Spider-Man on a first name basis. Now, the FBI and Kraven's men are here questioning students. Flash is being questioned right now."

Internally, I sighed. I would have made a mental note to put Flash on my "Kick In The Dick" list, but I was pretty sure he was already on it – multiple times.

"Well, that's what he gets for clout chasing," I finally commented.

Things were tense at school. Every period, an FBI agent would walk into my class and call away a student. A lot of them I would recognize as those who were rather vocal online about their support for Spider-Man. Internally, my stomach churned. I had a feeling that I was going to be chosen eventually. I wasn't nervous, per se. It wasn't the first time I've been in an interrogation room (and that wasn't even including the time I was detained by Damage Control months before The Spell). Still, I wasn't looking forward to facing the Feds. I needed some air. So, when lunch rolled around, I made my way towards the roof. I ate my sandwich reluctantly. I wasn't even hungry. I just ate it because I knew I would complain about being hungry later.

I looked towards the city as I ate. I was sulking a bit. Midtown was, in a way, a safe haven for me. Even when the other students thought I was just a weirdo, I felt a bit at home there. I was never worried about something bad happening to me. But between me, along with the rest of the AcaDeca team, being held hostage by The Friends of Humanity (fuck them) and this day, Midtown didn't feel as safe anymore. I started to wonder if Peter, Kitty, and Craig ever had to contend with what I was feeling.

I was taken out of my thoughts when I heard the door to the roof open. I suddenly turned around, afraid that I was about to be taken and detained. I sighed. It was just Ned. However, my relief lasted only a second before I saw the look of alarm on his face.

"MJ, they got her!" he called out.

I raised an eyebrow. "They got who?" I asked as he walked up to me.

"They got Betty!" He came to a stop in front of me. "She got called in for interrogation!"

I rolled my eyes. "It's no big deal. I don't think Betty is going to fold."

"She doesn't have to!"

I narrowed my eyes. "What do you mean?"

"Look, Betty has her laptop with her."

I tilted my head. "So…?"

"She has her fanfiction on that laptop!"

I closed my eyes. Was I dense or was Ned worried about the wrong shit? "Why is that an issue?!" I demanded as I opened my eyes. "Like, what's the worst that could happen? That they find out Betty likes to write stories with AO3 levels of smut?"

Now it was Ned rolling his eyes. "She's written stories about us!" he whispered urgently. "In those stories, it's pretty clear that Peter is Spider-Man, Kitty is Shadowcat, and so on and so forth! Not only that, it's made perfectly clear that You, Betty, and I know the X-Men – like know them know them! If Betty says the wrong thing, they'll search her and her belongings!"

I blinked slowly. At that moment, I got a memory flash. In that memory flash, I was in Peter Pan with Peter and Ned. I looked down at the counter in front of me and saw the stack of rejection letters from colleges that I assumed we all applied for, including every community college in New York. I blinked again, and I was back in reality. It took me a moment to realize that Mirror MJ was trying to get me to understand what was at stake. Not only would it be my college career, but every X-Man and American Idiot would be fucked.

I clenched my eyes shut as I bowed my head and shook it. "Of course," I grumbled out.

"What are we going to do?" Ned asked.

I lifted my head, opened my eyes, and turned away. I walked away few steps. "Think, MJ, think." As I said this, I tapped my palms a few times against my temples. What could we do? Maybe we could've called Kitty. But I had no idea where she was. By the time she got here, something might've already happened for the Feds to obtain a search warrant. We needed to do something now. But what could we do?" I lifted my head up as I heard the sounds of sirens. It was way out in the distance. Still, I recognized it – it belonged to a fire truck. I then got an idea. I turned towards Ned. "Do you have your laptop on you right now?"

"I do, why?" Ned replied.

"Before I explain, I need to know something. Would you be able to access the school's surveillance system with it?"

Ned narrowed his eyes, but still nodded. "Yeah, I can. They still haven't found the backdoor I left in it."

I nodded. "And do you think you can hack the chemistry lab's fire retardant system? I know it's ran by a computer system and –"

"MJ," Ned interrupted. "What are you planning on doing?"

"I'm going to start a fire in the chemistry lab," I explained. "Before I do that, I'm going to stop by the Drama Club's costume storage so I can put on something of a disguise. Then, as everyone heads out, I'm going to swing by Betty's locker and grab her laptop." I tilted my head. "That is where she's keeping her laptop, right?" Ned nodded. "Good. I'll need you to cover my tracks" I pulled out my phone and checked the time. We had about twenty minutes left for lunch. "How long will it take you to get into the surveillance system?"

Ned kneeled down and took off his backpack. "Including boot up time… it'll probably be a couple of minutes."

I smiled. "Nice."

I waited as Ned got ready. Once he did, he reached into his backpack and handed me an earpiece.

"What's this?" I asked.

"It's a way for me to communicate with you," he explained. "I'll be watching you with the security system. Still, be careful."

"I will," I said as I put the earpiece over my right ear. I pulled the black scrunchie from hair. My hair fell down to my shoulders and, more importantly, covered the earpiece. I took in a breath, then made my way inside, pocketing my scrunchie as I did so. "Time to save my fellow Idiot."

I walked through the halls. I acted casual, but I was low key panicking. I started to wonder if it was too late to call Kitty. She could have easily moved in and out of the building without anyone noticing. Still, I kept it calm, even when I passed by an FBI agent who was talking to one of the teachers about… magic tricks? It was odd, but I kept it moving.

"Hey, this is The Guy In The Chair," Ned said over the earpiece. "I can see you on camera right now. If you can hear me, scratch your nose." I fought the urge to roll my eyes as I scratched the bridge of my nose with the index finger of my right hand. "Good, good. I just had to test it out. You're all clear so far." I continued to walk. Within a couple of minutes, I was at the doors to the auditorium. I took in a breath and slipped inside. I looked around. Every now and again, some other students would eat lunch here, but there was no one in sight.

"I'm in the auditorium," I said.

"Good," Ned responded. "I still got you."

I walked up to the stage and made a left. I used the steps to get onto the stage before I made my way through the backstage area. I walked through the halls until I found the costume room. I reached into my jacket and pulled out my wallet. I opened it up and pulled out a credit card. It was an expired credit card that used to belonged to my dad. A while back, I took a lighter to it so I could melt and deform my father's name as well as the numbers. It was useless as a purchasing option. It was perfect for me to get in and out of places. I slid the card into the crack and slid it down. After jimmying it a bit, I was able to pull the door open. I quickly stepped inside and closed the door behind me.

I took in a breath as I slowly turned around and looked around the room, putting the card back into my wallet and putting the wallet back into my jacket. I walked past the clothes and up to a table. On that table were multiple wig heads, each one having a different color wig on. Also on the table were a whole lot of bobby pins.

"Time to do my hair up just right," I deadpanned.

I moved as quickly as I could. Using the bobby pins, I pinned my hair down to my head until none of it was hanging. After that, I checked the nearby drawers before I pulled out a wig cap. As I did so, I ended up pulling something else out. I watched it as it fell to the floor. I kneeled down and picked it up. It was some kind of red ski mask, I think. But it didn't look like it covered the whole head.

"Odd," I whispered to myself. I was about to put it back. Instead, I decided to wear it. I put it over my head and carefully adjusted it. Sure enough, it only covered the bottom half of my face. I raised my eyebrows briefly before I put on the wig cap. Once it was on properly, I walked up to the wigs.

I eyed them as I decided on which one to go with. One wig was a dark brunette. I didn't go with that one because what's the point of trying to disguise yourself if the wig was the same color as your actual hair? There was a red wig. I smiled. I still had the red wig from when I went under the name of Mary Jane in Palm Springs. As tempted as I was, I decided not to go with that one. My eyes then landed on a black wig. It was straight and very long.

"Sure, why not?" I said. I put on the wig. I pulled out my phone and used the front-facing camera as a mirror as I adjusted the wig. Once I was satisfied, I locked my phone and placed it back into my pocket. I unzipped my jacket, letting my shirt show. "Okay, Ned, I'm rea –"

"MJ, someone's coming!" Ned yelled over the earpiece. My eyes went wide.

I then heard the sound of the door opening.

Oh, what the - ?!