Peter Parker

Prior to Kaine's capture, we had a tracker put inside of him. The tracker itself was something I made with some surplus items I found in the Bunker. After some trial and error – with me being my own guinea pig because there was no way in hell I'd put Kaine through that – I was able to make one that could give a signal strong enough to be tracked by GPS yet still be small enough to situate itself in his large intestine after he swallowed it. As Kitty and Carmilla took times tracking Kaine's movements via GPS, the rest of us – Craig, Joanna, and I – were preparing for a very likely trip. That included packing weapons and equipment we'd need for a possible invasion.

"Pass me that grenade box," Craig said. I grabbed the handle of the metal of container and lifted it up before I handed it to him. He took it with both hands and put it into the back of the SUV. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," I replied.

He closed the hatch of the SUV. After lightly tapping the rear window twice with the side of his fist, he turned around and looked at me. "You ever had oxtail before?"

I shook my head. "I can't say I have."

Sometime later, we ended up at a Jamaican spot in Brooklyn. We took a table for ourselves near a window. I could smell the spices and herbs in the air, and they smelled rather appealing.

"This place been through a lot," Craig said.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Have you heard of the Rum Punch Massacre?" I nodded. "This happened here, in Gwen's. Even before that event, I could count on one hand the amount of people who had love for Black Mariah – and that's including family members. When that woman died, everybody who was in the know about her true self shed no tears for her." He scoffed. "Well, maybe some did, but only because they were sad they didn't get to her first." He looked around the place. "Anyway, Luke Cage took over ownership for a bit until a relative of the original owner made his way from Jamaica and wanted to run the place. Luke sold the place to him for five bucks and free plate once a month for a year."

I chuckled. "Nice."

Craig smirked as he looked at me. His face then became solemn. "How you holdin' up, homie?" he asked.

"I'm okay, I guess," I replied. "I'm just ready for this whole situation to be over."

"And by situation, do you mean the situation with You-Know-Who, or the situation with MJ?"

"Both, I guess." I pressed my lips together. "I'm more… anxious… over the latter, to be honest."

Craig raised his eyebrows briefly in acknowledgement. "I can't say I blame you. I've seen and been through some weird situations, as one would have working in my field and being from where I'm from. But I ain't ever experience anything like that situation."

I chuckled bitterly. "Well, you never experienced idiocy to the level of my old self."

"We all've been idiots in the past."

"Maybe so, but I'm pretty sure I'd give Star-Lord a run for his money."

Craig furrowed up his eyebrows in confusion. "Who?"

I shook my head. "Long story. It's Snap-related. Anyway, what do you think about it?"

Craig gave me a look of warning. "Do you really want me to answer that?"

"…I don't know." Craig chuckled as he shook his head. I frowned. "How did you and Carmilla reconcile?"

"A whole lot of talking, that's how." He leaned back in his seat. "During the plane ride back, Carmilla and I didn't get much sleep. We had a very spirited and emotional conversation. We yelled at each other, we aired grievances, we cried a bit…" He paused for a moment. "…we cried a lot…"

"And you mended bridges?"

"Nah, homie – we rebuilt them. See, to mend bridges, there would have to be something left of the bridge to begin with. When I went off on Carmilla that one day, before I was properly informed about who she was, I not only burned the bridge, I bombed the local fire departments, trucks and all, so to speak."

I nodded. "I see."

Craig tilted his head. "Did that help any?"

"…Yes?" He narrowed his eyes at me. I shook my head slowly. "No."

Craig nodded. "I'm sorry, man."

"It's not your fault. It's just…" I frowned. "I just been swinging back and forth between being resigned to the fact that things could take a turn for the worse and just wishing it doesn't turn out that way. I think what makes it even worse is that, if it does come to the worst, I only have myself to blame."

"MMMMM, I'd say 'bout twenty percent of the blame you deserve," Craig interjected. "Maybe thirty percent, I'd say. Doctor Strange did kind of drop the ball on his hand. And you wouldn't have went to Doctor Strange if it wasn't for what Mysterio did. But otherwise…" Craig grimaced. "You're right."

"Consequences don't have an expiration date, does it?" I said dejectedly.

"No, it doesn't. But, you live and you learn, and worse haven't come to worst yet. So, I guess there's still hope and…" He trailed off when a song played from his phone – specifically it was Stand By Me by Ben E. King. He pulled out his phone and looked at me apologetically. "Sorry." He answered the call. "Hey Kitty, what's good? …Yeah, I'm at Gwen's with Peter. …Nah, Gwen's not a person. I'm talking Gwen's, the Jamaican food restaurant. …Yeah, that Gwen's. You need me to get you something? …Okay, I got you. So what's up? …Uh-huh… uh-huh… uh-huh… Yeah, I'll let him know. Okay… I'll see you later. Bye sis." Craig hung up his phone and put it away. "Kitty says hi."

I nodded slowly. "Okay," I replied. "What was all that about?"

"She's contacting everyone to let them know we'll be flying out tomorrow."

I raised an eyebrow. "Why tomorrow?"

Craig continued to speak in an extremely low tone that only the two of us could hear. "The location for our business meeting has been set." He sighed. "Unfortunately, it's going to be rather tricky, to say the least."

"Why's that?"

He shook his head. "We're going to Madripoor."

I raised an eyebrow. "Where?"

"Madripoor. It's this island nation slash city-state in maritime Southeast Asia, just south of Singapore. It's a mostly lawless land where there's one rule – whatever the Power Broker say goes. A lot of criminals flee to Madripoor because Madripoor doesn't extradite."

I shook my head. "So why would they take Kaine there?"

"I'm guessing there's a government black site there or something."

I was still confused. "But that far away? Why?"

"They're probably spooked over what happened in Palm Springs. After what we did to that lab, they're probably figuring we'll come looking for Kaine soon enough. They probably want to make it near impossible for us to even get to him." He frowned. "They really chose the right place for that."

I narrowed my eyes. "You ever been there?"

"Nah, but Scott did. He caused a whole lot of ruckus when he was there. But, that's usually how it goes in a tale of Erik the Red." He took in a breath. "We're going to be out for a while, so you might want to take care of any urgent affairs before we leave."

That's exactly what I did.

When I got home, I emailed Jonah and told him that I was going to Indonesia for a shoot. I then called up Pepper and explained to her what was going on. I paid my rent and bills for the month and the next month. I thought I was done until I thought about MJ. She wanted to wait until after Kraven was dealt with before she goes to Clea for the personality merge. The thing is… I didn't know how long we'd be gone. And thinking about it then, I figured it probably wasn't good for her to wait. So, with that in mind, I sent a text to MJ.

"Can you meet me at our spot at seven tonight?"

A little later on, I was on the roof of Midtown. I looked towards the city, waiting for MJ to come. I couldn't help but find it funny that I beat MJ there. Every other time, it would be her waiting for me. Whatever amusement I got from the situation was overshadowed by the anxiousness I had over the conversation I wanted to have with her. Some minutes later, I heard the door open behind me. I also heard a heartbeat. I took in a breath.

"You know, usually I'm here first," MJ said from behind me. Slowly, I turned around and looked at her. "Was the city quiet tonight?"

"I don't know," I admitted. "I, um… I made my way straight here."

MJ tilted her head as she walked up to me. "Is everything okay?"

"Sort of." I sighed. "The X-Men are flying out tomorrow to take care of things."

MJ raised her eyebrows. "Where are you guys going exactly?"

"Madripoor – this lawless country."

She nodded. "Is that why you called me here?"

"Partially, yeah."

"So what's the whole reason?"

I frowned. "I was thinking… I don't know how long we're going to be there for. From what Craig told me, it won't be a simple in and out. And… I know you said you wanted to wait until this Kraven business is done with before you go to Clea, but… I don't… I don't want you to wait for this situation to be done to do that."

There was a certain expression that came over MJ's face. I saw a bit of fear, a bit of confusion, and a bit of worry. She shook her head as she grimaced. "Are you saying this because the wait is killing you?"

"I…" I paused for a moment. I then tilted my head briefly in acknowledgment. "I'm not going to lie and say that that's not a part of it. But, at the same time, I just don't think it's fair to you – both present you and past you – to wait on my account. So, because of that, I think you should go and do it as soon as possible."

MJ glared at me. "Peter, I'm not just waiting for your sake. I'm waiting for the sake of myself and the others." I opened my mouth to say something. "Loser, let me finish. Let, me finish." I closed my mouth. "As I was saying… First of all, the wait is killing me, too. I don't know what the new me is going to do. I don't want things to end between us any more than you do, and as much as I want to try and be optimistic about it, I can't help but be extremely worried about the worst-cases scenario. But, I know you, Peter. If I go off and do it while you're gone, you'll be over in Madripoor being anxious about it. The X-Men don't need a Spider-Man that is off his game, and if anything bad happens because you're too distracted, I don't think I could handle that." She reached up and grabbed my shoulders as she looked me in the eye. "The X-Men are your family, and they're my family, too. And I want them back alive… and preferably unharmed, but definitely alive. Got it?"

I really wanted to argue with her. I really did. But when MJ was right, she was right. Then again, she's almost never wrong to begin with. So, after taking in a breath, I nodded reluctantly. "I got it." I frowned. "MJ… I'm sorry… for everything." Everything included going to Doctor Strange for The Spell instead of keeping a cool head and thinking things through. Everything included breaking the promise I made to her prior to The Spell going off. Everything included her going through her current situation, with a universe inside of her housing a pre-Spell version of her. Everything including said pre-Spell version of her being absolutely not unjustified in her resentment towards me.

Fuck you, Past Peter. Fuck you and the web you swung in on.

"Peter?" MJ whispered.

"Yes MJ?" I replied.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Because you have the same look on your face you had the night Hammer announced he was financially supporting F.E.A.S.T."

I sighed. "I'm okay. I'm just… I'm still a bit angry at myself over…" I shook my head slowly. "And I just… I just…"

"I get it, Peter. I get it." She stepped into me as she moved her hands and wrapped her arms around the back of my neck. She placed a kiss on my cheek before she pulled me into a hug. I hugged her back without hesitation. We stood there for a while, holding each other in silence. I don't know how long we were there for. It could have been a minute. It could've been an hour. All I know was that I didn't want to let her go. After that, MJ rubbed her cheek against mine before she pulled away. "Come on, let's get you home."

The next morning, I made my way to the Bunker and met everyone else there. A bit to my surprise, Buford was there. Kitty explained that he was coming along with us since we needed an extra hand. Plus, Buford could drive or pilot any craft due to his mutant powers.

"So what are we going to call you?" Craig brought up as he sat at the table, eating Greek yogurt from a cup.

We all looked at Buford, who looked at us in confusion. "What do you mean?" he asked.

"I'm sorry, but did you expect to roll around with us using your real name while we're out in the field?" Joanna asked pointedly.

"…I…" Buford trailed off for a moment. "I guess you're right. But… I don't know what to give myself as a codename."

"We could call you Driver," I pointed out.

"Yeah, no," Carmilla said with a tone of disgust. "That name sounds plain as fuck."

"I mean, it gets the point across," Kitty defended, prompting me to nod in agreement.

Carmilla scoffed. "We might as well call him Pilot or Chauffeur. It doesn't even sound like a codename. It sounds like an occupation."

"She kind of has a point there," Craig said in agreement. "Sorry Peter."

"I think I got one," Buford spoke up as he looked around at all of us. "I think I'm going to call myself Razorback."

"…Razorback?" Kitty repeated. Buford nodded. "As in the alternate term for a wild boar?" Buford nodded again. "Why that name?"

Buford smiled sheepishly. "…It has something to do with my alma mater."

Kitty raised an eyebrow. "You went to the University of Arkansas?"

"Yeah, I did. Got my degree in Criminal Justice there, too. I ended up going into the Air Force afterwards since I went to Arkansas on an ROTC scholarship."

Kitty nodded. "Well, not the codename I'd give you, but if you like it I love it." She smiled briefly. "Anyway, before we go, I need you guys to understand something. We're going to Madripoor. Getting in is not going to be easy, considering we're not exactly big time criminals." She paused for a moment. "Well, technically, we are but… well, you know what I mean. Anyway, along the way, we're going to make a stop in Singapore and see if we can see a contact that could get us in without the need for sneaking in or going in loud."

"A contact for who?" Buford asked.

"For the Power Broker. They are the one running things in Madripoor. There are only two rules on that island – whatever the Power Broker say goes, and don't piss them off. So, hopefully, we can petition the Power Broker to let us in and do what we have to do without resistance from the local residents, provided we stay out of the way Power Broker and their interests."

"And if we can't?" I asked.

Kitty frowned. "Have you seen The Warriors?"

"…I have."

"Well, I hope you like that movie, because we're going to have to reenact it, right after we reenact The Raid."