Peter Parker

When I woke up the next morning, I felt…

I felt…

I don't quite know how I felt. There were so many parts of me with different feelings that I couldn't even begin to sort them out. Or maybe I could and I just didn't want to. Come to think of it, I didn't really want to do anything. I just wanted to stay in bed and not think. But what was the use? Not thinking was never a solution to my problems. It just made things worse. So, I willed myself out of bed. I was on autopilot for a bit, going through the motions as I did my normal morning routine. Once I got dressed, I went about eating breakfast. It wasn't anything much – just a couple of protein bars and a can of Cocaine energy drink. I knew MJ or even Betty would've gotten on my case about it if they were there, but I just wasn't in the mood to cook or even brew a cup of coffee.

After I was done eating, I thought about what I was going to do with my time. Since I was going to be at The Daily Bugle tonight, I had no reason to go there for my normal shift. So, I had some time to kill until school. I walked over to my phone and took it off of the charging pad before I went through my contacts. I didn't know who to call. I wanted to call Jericho or Scott, but I wasn't sure if they'd be available. I wanted to call one of the other X-Men, but I figured they already enough on their plate for the day, with them infiltrating Hammer Industries' headquarters and all. I landed on Pepper's name. I stared at her name for some seconds. I then looked at the time.

It was 9:30 am.

There was a three hour difference between Pepper and I. On one hand, 6:30 was only kind of early in the morning, I guess. On the other hand, though, I didn't know if that was too early for her. After a few moments, I set my phone down.

"It'd be too early in the morning for her to put up with me," I said to myself. I was about to get up and walk away before my phone rang. I looked at the screen. I then raised my eyebrows in surprise. There was Pepper Potts' name looking back at me. I hesitated. I didn't know if I should answer or not. After some seconds, I picked up the phone and took the call. "Good morning, Pepper."

"Good morning, Peter," Pepper said from the other end of the call. "I didn't wake you, did I?"

I almost laughed at the irony. "No, you didn't. I've been up for a few hours."

"Good. I know I tend to wake up early, but I try to remember that different people have different sleeping patterns. Anyway, did Scott tell you I'm going to be in town next week?"

"He did."

"Good. Now why is someone Russian game hunter running around calling himself Spider-Man?"

I sighed. "Long story short, I got captured and my powers were stripped away by this voodoo priestess. I got rescued, but I had to meet a Voodoo priest in Miami to get my powers restored. Unfortunately, my powers are coming back at a snail's pace. So, while I'm keeping a low profile, this Kraven guy – who has a beef with Tony Stark – is running around trying to take my place."

Pepper scoffed. "You know, I've seen a lot of people do some rather audacious things, but that is easily top five in my book."

"That's what the others said."

"And how're you dealing with it?"

"Better than how I'm handling other things, I guess."

Pepper paused for a moment. I almost wished I didn't say anything. I knew she was going to start asking questions. "…What else is going on? Are you having trouble in school?"

I scoffed. "I almost wish."

"That bad?"

I sighed. "…It's… it has to do with MJ."

"…I'm sorry, who?"

It took me a moment to realize that Pepper probably didn't know that I called Michelle MJ. "I'm talking about Michelle… my girlfriend."

"Oh! I'm sorry, I didn't realize she had a nickname." She then groaned. "Oh God, please tell you two haven't broken up."

"No we haven't," I replied. "But… I'm afraid we will."

"What happened between you two?" Pepper asked.

"It's a long story."

"I have time."

I sighed before I stood up. I started to pace. "It's just… It has to do with… So, remember The Spell… the one I told you about after we ate at your apartment here in New York?"

"I do."

"Okay."

From there, I explained everything that was going on with MJ, from here memories coming back, to her basically carrying a mini-universe inside of her that housed the personification of a copy of MJ's memories, to Clea's proposal and the issues it could cause for my relationship with MJ.

"And, right now… I just feel… stuck," I said. "It's like… I don't want things to end between me and MJ. But… I feel like that if things do end, it's my fault and I have no reason to complain. And… I want to be optimistic, and a part of me is, but… I got so many conflicting emotions running through my head that I don't even know what to do or how to feel."

Pepper was quiet. She became quiet for so long that I almost though the call dropped. Then I heard a bit of laughter. I narrowed my eyes. The laughter died down.

"I'm sorry, Peter, I'm not laughing at your situation," Pepper assured. "It's just… you remind me of Tony."

I blinked a couple of times. "I do?"

"Yeah, you do. He… he never really got to tell anyone else this, but he harbored quite a bit of guilt over how things went down between him and Steve during the whole intra-Avengers conflict. He especially felt bad when things fell out between him and Scott."

"Scott wanted to talk to him after The Battle for Earth," I blurted out.

"I'm sure he did," Pepper replied. "Tony wanted to talk to Scott as well. Problem was, Scott basically fell off the face of the Earth during the Blip years. Anyway, Tony slowly realized that he felt so sure that he was right that he didn't stop to think maybe there was a better way to go about doing things. Now, don't me wrong. While I love Steve to death and I respect the hell out of what he's done for the world, one could write a research paper on how he fucked things up on his end. That said, if Tony could have done things a bit differently, he would've. I'm sure you must feel that way right now."

I took a moment to actually think about it. "…A part of me does." I paused for a moment as I stared ahead. "I was at a point where I made peace with how things turned out – especially since I was in a better place mentally from where I was after right after The Spell. And, I'm still mostly at peace, but… I don't know…"

"I get it, Peter, I do. But let me tell you something. Ever since he became Iron Man, Tony spent a lot of time trying to right his wrongs, and he had to learn the hard way that not every wrong can be righted. He was very miserable until he learned that lesson. I guess what I'm trying to say is… whatever happens, or could happen, don't let it consume you. You might have to swallow a bitter pill, but it's just that."

I took in a breath. At the time, I didn't know if Pepper's words helped me. I guess they helped put me at ease a bit? But, down the line, those words would prove to be rather important.

"Okay," I finally said.

"Okay, well, when I come to New York, I want to see you. I want to make sure you're okay, and we need to discuss college. Plus, Morgan's been missing you. And you wouldn't break her little heart, do you?"

That actually got me to smile. "…No, I wouldn't."

"Good. Well, until then, be safe."

"You too, Pepper. Tell Morgan and Happy that I said hello."

"Will do."

Later on, I was at the studio at The Daily Bugle. With Betty trailing me, I looked over the cameras on Jonah's orders. I don't know what he expected me to find, but everything looked okay to me. Little did he know that if the X-Men wanted to hijack The Daily Bugle's broadcast, they wouldn't be bugging the cameras.

Eventually, Kraven did arrive, dressed in a rather nice three piece formal suit that was mostly black, with the vest being a tan color that reminded me of a lion's fur. He wasn't alone. Along with his entourage of who I assumed to be security, Calypso was there, along with Anton. It took me all of my willpower to keep my stomach from churning. How the hell did Anton get released from SHIELD custody? I decided not to dwell on it. I didn't want to give Kraven a reason to pay me any attention. So, I just stood off to the side with Betty as Jonah met with Kraven.

After a while, one of Jonah's assistants stepped up to lead Kraven and company to the green room. However, they moved all of five steps before Kraven's eyes landed on me. He changed directions and stepped up to me, with Calypso and Anton in tow. From the corner of my eye, I saw Betty shift her stance. I heard her heartbeat. She was definitely uncomfortable.

"You," he said. "You look familiar."

"I've been told I have one of those faces," I replied calmly.

"You carry an air of familiarity," Calypso spoke up. I looked at her. "It's almost as if we met somewhere."

"You probably passed by him on the streets before," Kraven offered as he glanced at his wife. He then looked at me. "You were at the coffee shop… Peter Pan I believe it's called."

A part of me wanted to lie, but I figured if he saw right through me, it'd make him suspicious. "Yeah, I was," I confirmed.

Kraven nodded. "I remember now. I smelt the nervousness radiating off of you. I take it you were having a tough time."

I smirked. "Normal high school senior stuff, it's all. I've been weighing my options on where to go for college and what I want to do with my life."

"I see. Well, I hope you come to a decision soon and it turns out well for you."

"Thank you."

He nodded. The assistant ushered Kraven and his crew to the green room. I watched them until they disappeared. I then took in a breath before I let it out.

"You know, he almost sounds sincere," Betty commented.

"He might've been," I replied with a nod.

Eventually, the interview happened. I stood by and watched, but I wasn't really paying attention. I was more worried about how the rest of the X-Men were doing since they were infiltrating Hammer Industries' headquarters. I started to tune back in when the subject of Spider-Man came up.

"And now, you've replaced that menace as the true Spider-Man!" Jonah said. "Now, understand that most of the people of this city appreciate you, but there is still a rather vocal minority that says you're desecrating the so-called good name of that criminal. What are your thoughts on that?"

"They have a right to their opinion," he replied. "But whether the people of this city like me or hate me, I am the rightful hero of New York City. With me being the best hunter in the world, ignoring baseless criticisms is nothing new to me."

"Speaking of hunting, how is tracking down the X-Men going?"

At that, he chuckled. Something about it made my skin crawl and… wait, why was my Spider Sense going off? "They are a crafty bunch, I will admit. They've managed to evade my capture for a long while. Unfortunately, for them, they didn't know I was biding my time. During our investigation of Midtown, one of my men's laptops was stolen. We tried to track it, but the tracking device was compromised by the time we realized it was gone. As annoying as it was, we figured the laptop may have been in the X-Men's possession. Given the information that was on it, I concluded that it was only a matter of time until they would go after Hammer Industries. So I've had my men positioned among the staff there, just waiting for the day the X-Men tries something. And tonight, that day has come. As we speak, our men are doing battle with the X-Men."

Betty and I looked at each other, more than a bit worried. I glanced back at Kraven before I slowly backed away. I turned around and made my way to the bathroom. Once I was inside, I walked up to one of the sinks. I placed my hand on the counter and bowed my head. What could I do? I sighed. Nothing, I could do nothing. The only thing I could do was have faith that the others could handle themselves.

"They got this," I whispered to myself. "They got this. They got this. They got –"

I was interrupted when I heard and felt my phone vibrate in my pocket. I pulled my phone out and checked it. There was a message from Betty. I narrowed my eyes before I checked it.

"Kraven and company are leaving! They just said they're heading to H.I.!" It took me a moment to realize what H.I. stood for.

I put the phone back in my pocket. I bowed my head and covered my face with my hands. I breathed in and out slowly through my hands, trying my very best to calm down. It wasn't working. I wanted to believe that the X-Men and Kaine got this. But all I could remember was how Kraven took down all of the X-Men while I was being kidnapped. Add in the fact that the X-Men were being ambushed at this very moment… I couldn't contain my worry. I took in one last breath, making one last ditch effort to contain myself and… Nope, it didn't work.

"DAMN IT!" I yelled out. During this, I slammed the sides of my fists onto the counter. Much to my surprise, I didn't end up hurting my hands. Instead, my fists left two holes in the counter, one on each side of the sink. My eyes went wide as I took a step back. I looked down at my hands. I turned my hands over and balled them up and unraveled them to see if they were okay. They were. I looked over at the sink, which was basically standing on its pipe. I walked up to it, grabbed it, and pulled. With the effort it would take anyone to rip a piece of paper out of a notebook, I tore it off of the pipe. I looked at the sink in my hand before tossed it aside, causing it to break when it hit the wall. I stared at the pieces, ignoring the water that was starting to flood the bathroom. I then nodded before I pulled out my phone. The first thing I did was text Betty back.

"Betty, go home. I'll think of something."

After that, I sent another to text to another person. I put the phone in my pocket. A couple of minutes later, a portal opened up in front of me. Without saying a word, I stepped through it.