Graduation was only a day away, it was insane to believe the game changer of a day was coming at last. High school was about to end. It was about month since beating Wilson Fisk
Peter was out walking with MJ back to her house.
"Almost here, Graduation I can't believe it, can you? I'm so shocked my sentences are falling apart!" Peter said jokingly.
"You're right about that, it's pretty crazy. Are you going to wear a tux?" She asked. "Not sure if I've ever seen you wearing one before."
Peter nodded. "And don't think I've ever seen you wear a dress before!"
"Nope you haven't, guess it'll be a first for us both." She replied with a smirk.
"Looks like it will be, looking forward to that." Peter said back happily.
MJ smiled. "I bet your Aunt May is super excited."
"Oh boy yeah, I think she's more excited than me. Bet she'll be taking a ton of pictures, she'll be the proudest aunt ever." He sighed. "I wish my Uncle Ben would be there, I'm going to be wearing one of his tuxedos. They both dreamed of seeing me wearing it to my graduation, I remember that. I'd give anything from him to see this."
Mary Jane put her hand on his shoulder. "I know your Uncle Ben would be very proud of you Peter if he was still here and I'm sure too he's watching from someplace."
"You're right, I'm sure he is. Hope I've made him proud." Peter said as he opened the door for MJ to go inside, walking in with her.
"Aunt Anna? Are you-" She stopped in her tracks spotting something shocking.
Peter's spider sense went off and he was concerned, quickly rushing to her side, spotting the trouble. Ned was sitting at the kitchen table with Mary Jane's father and Aunt Anna who looked in distress.
"Dad, what the hell are you doing!" She shouted at him and felt her head begin to hurt, it was Ned who attacked her and Peter with his mental powers.
"Both of you should stay down." He suggested standing up. "I apologize for the violence, but my ally here wanted his daughter and I felt inclined to agree. Looks like we've got ourselves a bonus too." He said looking at Peter putting more pressure on his head made him practically hugging the ground.
"Crime Master, this isn't necessary." He pleaded.
Ned Leed looked over at him. "This is what you wanted right? Your daughter?" He grabbed her, pulling her over to him. "It's your desire to rebuild your relationship. That kid and this woman have been in your way of having that dream. Don't you want your family? It's all I ever wanted, so take it! Why aren't you with open arms?" He asked, getting up in his face and then turned over to Peter walking towards him.
"Please stop this." Peter said weekly.
He kneeled down. "Not a chance, I warned you. And I think after I make your brain collapse into itself, I'll pay a visit to your Aunt. Tell her our little secret before she dies, I did warn you to drop it and now you exposed who I am. Put me into the same position as Fisk, very poetic. I have no reason to have a noble goal, you took that. So, why not have a little revenge first? What's there to look forward to?" Ned said sounding like he had completely snapped.
Peter used all of his strength grabbing Ned by the throat. "If you hurt her, I swear to-" The pain overwhelmed him and he fell back to the ground. Before Ned could finish up, police sirens were heard outside approaching closely.
"No, no. Who called them!? It must've been the woman. Looter, we need to leave now grab your daughter we're leaving." He said and turned to him.
Looter looked over at Mary Jane seeing her disappointment in him and tears forming in her eyes. "Please stop this, dad." She pleaded one last time. With a nod he looked back at Ned walking towards him.
"Goodbye, Peter Parker. I truly wish we never encountered each other, I never wanted any of this to get to this point. I apologize, but you've interfered for the last time." He whispered, getting ready to finish off Peter looking determined.
In a shocking turn of events, Mary Jane's father grabbed The Crime Master and knocked him down to the ground. "I'm done running, this has all gone too far. I'm sorry Mary Jane and Anna. I should've stopped this madness a long time ago."
"Looter! I should've known you did have the strength to see this through. Why couldn't you? Why! Why'd you have to be weak!"
"Run!" He shouted at his family and they listened, booking it out the backdoor and fell to the floor as Ned attacked him mentally.
Ned sighed greatly and grabbed his throat. "Was it worth it?"
Peter got up lunging at Ned, cracking him across the face. "I'd say it was. He did the right thing, more than you can say Leeds!" He then grabbed him, throwing him against the wall.
"Is that all you've got Parker?" Ned mocked and ran at him, raising his fists trying to swing, but Peter and MJ's father cracked him across the face, knocking him out cold.
Taking down The Crime Master. "You ever hear about the one where the cocky crock got too close to the two super strong guys? If you did, would've made a better choice." He then turned to MJ's dad. "Thank you, for saving me. For saving all of us."
"This had gone too far, Ned Leeds wasn't the man I thought he was clearly. I just wanted to put things right in the end, he only wanted revenge in the end. It's all that could drive him." He put his hands up and kneeled down as the police entered with their guns raised. "I surrender, no more running. I won't put up a fight."
The police grabbed him, pulling him out, along with The Crime Master.
It's over, at long last. Peter thought to himself sitting on the floor.
After a few minutes Captain Stacy went to speak to Peter and Mary Jane.
"I'm sorry this happened to you both before your graduations. I know it's uncommon, but I thought I'd let you speak to your father briefly before we take him away."
"Thank you Mr. Stacy." She stood up walking towards him.
Stacy looked over at Peter. "Looks like The Crime Master is finished, pretty wild he happened to be one of your co-workers isn't it?"
"Yep, pretty wild." Peter tried to keep his words to a minimum to avoid suspicion.
"It's a shame Spider-Man wasn't here to see this. The Crime Master is finally being hauled over to jail." He said knowingly looking at Peter.
Peter's face looked shocked, but also tried to hide it, poorly. For once, he was speechless and wasn't sure of what to say to that.
Stacy cleared his throat. "Well, wherever Spider-Man is hopefully he'll sleep well tonight knowing the threat of The Crime Master is over." He said looking over at him having an anti mutant power coller put on his neck putting him onto a transport.
With a disappointed sigh Ned Leeds stepped on knowing it was over. His goals had failed in stopping all the crime in New York and now he'd be heading off to jail with his entire empire crumbling.
Peter looked over at him and then back at Stacy. "Well, I'm sure wherever that Spider-Man guy is he's happy about Crime Master being taken to jail too. Though wasn't there another escaped bad guy?" He asked.
Stacy nodded. "Yes, Chance. Don't worry about him, he'll turn up."
"A good chance of it?" Peter replied with a sly smirk.
While they talked, Mary Jane went up to her father looking at him awkwardly.
"I'm sorry for everything Mary. I never dreamed of any of this occurring. All I wanted was to get back into your life and clear my debts. Move on from my past, but I see now it wasn't possible I had to face the music at some point."
She looked at him unsure of what to say.
"I know you probably don't know what to say. I understand. Listen, I love you Mary Jane and I always will. I wish I could've been the father you needed." He admitted and turned around getting taken away.
"Thank you for saving us dad, I appreciate it." She said and waved to him awkwardly knowing it'd be likely she'd not see him again, but didn't want to say she loved him as it wasn't true having hardly known him and being a criminal. Then, she thought about it more. "Wait, I promise I'll see you in prison. When I'm ready. You deserve that at least. I want to have another chance. I don't really want to lose you again."
He nodded as he was pulled away. "Thank you Mary."
Both of them got driven off in different transports.
As the street started to clear, Aunt May finally tried rushing off which Captain Stacy let her though to see Peter and Mary Jane.
"Oh! What happened here?" She asked as Peter rushed over to hug her.
"It's okay Aunt May, just a crazy super villain broke into Mary Jane's home, took her aunt hostage and then her dad kicked the crazy bad guy's butt. Also we got caught in the middle, but we're okay." Peter said quickly.
"Good heavens! That must've been exhausting, you must want to lay down!" She was completely shocked by it.
He brushed it off. "Aw shucks Aunt May it's okay, happens all the time." He said sarcastic in tune, but was serious.
"Now now, you've got to rest before your graduation after all that excitement Peter! And you should two MJ, you're welcome to stay with us if you need to."
MJ smiled at May. "It's alright I should stay with Aunt Anna." She did walk up to Peter before they parted ways for now. They hugged.
"Great way to start the preparation for graduation huh?" He joked.
"You got that right, can't believe this happened." They walked away from everyone's ear ranges and continued to speak.
Peter laughed. "That wasn't how I suspected at all how The Crime Master would be going down, gotta say quite a surprise. And glad your father did the right call when it counted, if not for him I hate saying it might've been a goner I could feel my head beginning to explode!" He exclaimed.
"Yes, I guess he saved us in the end. Really wasn't seeing that turn of events happening, though my dad would've tried to take me. I'm glad he did the right thing, but I'm not sure if I can forgive him for everything. Also you know, I've not questioned it before, but is he a mutant, did you ever find out?"
Peter shrugged. "He could be or he couldn't be. Who knows, doesn't really matter I think unless it does and then I'll feel stupid. Kinda wishing I asked."
"I'm sure it wasn't that important, at least now we have Ned Leeds locked up indefinitely and one less guy trying to kill you is a great thing." She pointed out.
Peter nodded. "Right you are."
They parted ways and as they prepared for the big day tomorrow.
As Aunt May helped Peter put on his suit, the tv was on in the background broadcasting a major trial. The trial of the Kingpin of Crime. It was a massive sight to behold and apparently a key factor in bringing him down was one person who Peter swore looked familiar for some reason, Matt Murdock. Apparently he had been compiling a crap load of evidence against Fisk, now being used to ensure he stayed put in jail. It was amazing that all the evidence stayed in good condition and wasn't tampered with. Seemed like Fisk's time as a free man was finally coming to an end. Wish Daredevil saw this, hopefully wherever that guy is it'll give him a good smile seeing his nemesis finally locked up for everything he's done.
Aunt May shut off the tv. "Looks like we're all done! Oh Peter, you look so handsome! Looks like I've still got it with helping put on a tuxedo!" She exclaimed so proudly. "Oh your Uncle Ben's so proud, I'm sure of it."
"Thank you Aunt May. It's a shame Harry isn't here for all this I wish he was." Peter replied and looked a bit sad about not having his best friend there.
"At least he's preparing for this monumental occasion with his father back home now they're all safe." Aunt May suggested on the brightside from her perspective.
Peter wasn't sure, knowing Norman better and having not as much faith in him being there for Harry it was a clear change how much different he felt living with them. However he was nethertheless hopeful for his friend knowing he would be moving out sooner then later likely so and they'd all be heading into collage together.
Together Peter walked out with Aunt May and spotted MJ going to her Aunt Anna's car in the most beautiful dress he'd ever seen. "Holy mother." He muttered to himself seeing MJ all dulled up to boot. Keeping his jaw from falling into the ground wasn't an easy task after seeing that. "Wowser." He continued muttering to himself.
"What's that dear?" Aunt May asked, looking over at him mind blown by MJ's appearance, which to him was only the cherry on top of who she already was.
He tried to act cool and collected as he got into the car with Aunt May and saw MJ being driven off. "Oh nothing Aunt May, I didn't say anything."
She smiled to herself knowing what he was doing.
Shortly they arrived at the graduation, finding Harry waiting with his father.
"Hey Peter, glad to see you." He said in a fancy tuxedo.
"Hey Harry and hello Mr. Osborn." Peter replied and got a nod from Norman.
Aunt May smiled at Harry. "Oh you're quite the dashing young man aren't you Harry! I'm sure Gwen is very happy to see that."
"Thank you May." He said respectfully.
Norman put his hand on his shoulder. "It's alright son, this is your big day. Looks as if your hard work on improving has paid off thanks to young Peter helping you. I'm proud of you for graduating. You did great, son."
Harry looked happy with himself and smiled. "Okay, would it be alright if I go find Gwen, I'd love for all of us to be together."
He nodded to his request and so Harry went off to find her during all the commotion.
"Is Harry's mother coming to the graduation?" May asked curiously.
"I'm afraid not, Ms. Parker. His mother, according to her, was preoccupied with more pressing matters, which I'm unable to confirm if that's the truth. I'd highly doubt it is, Harry's graduation should be most important to her, but it isn't." He said with an unexpected frown.
May looked disappointed as well. "I'm very sorry to hear that Mr. Osborn."
He shrugged. "We both had expected that outcome, I don't expect much from her anymore." He admitted.
May nodded. "Well I'm sure you must be proud of Harry!"
"Yes, I'm very proud of the boy and I have to give a major thanks to your nephew for helping Harry study more." He said and turned to Peter.
"Oh it was Harry's persistence Mr. Osborn, he did most of the heavy lifting." He said, lying as he pretty much had to force him into doing, but he didn't want to insult his best friend at all by telling the truth of the matter.
"I'm glad to hear that Peter." He replied.
Peter sighed in relief and then turned around seeing MJ again, trying to keep his mouth attached to his body at all costs. Along with keeping his completely sensible composer. Words started to fumble out of his mouth. "Hey, MJ, you are looking, well, uh, absolutely gorgeous!" He exclaimed and slapped his head.
"And you are looking incredibly handsome yourself Peter." She smiled at him.
He found this more difficult than dealing with all the beatings he had received. It was becoming even more clear as day then it already was, he had feelings for Mary Jane and all of this was only proving it even more so.
Before more thoughts could happen about that, Harry walked over to the group with Gwen and her father who both looked fancy too.
"Hey everyone." She said waving to the group.
"Oh Gwen, you look absolutely stunning!" Harry exclaimed with a smile to her.
She blushed and her father stared at him intently. Harry cleared his throat. "Where's the rest of your family?"
"Right behind us." She replied.
Peter spoke up. "Well uh, I think perhaps we should all be heading inside to get ready for the graduation." He said, rubbing the back of his head, feeling more pressure for this upcoming moment than the rest of events this year.
"He's right we really should get going, see you later dad and tell everyone else I'll see them later too!" She exclaimed and gave him a hug before leaving.
The four of them walked into school heading towards where they needed to be for getting set up and getting their gowns.
"You know, I wish Liz was here. Hope I'm not a broken record saying that." Peter said.
His three friends nodded.
"Yeah, it would've been great to have her be here. Spider-Man screwed that all up royally good. Ah whatever, it is what it is right?" Harry shrugged.
Peter nodded too. "You're right, shouldn't let it bring down our day right?"
"We're graduating!" Harry exclaimed, putting up his arms excitedly.
Gwen smirked at him. "Very typical of you. Though yeah, pretty incredible we're about to say goodbye to this crummy place."
MJ laughed. "I basically didn't even get to know it."
Peter laughed to himself too. "True that, pretty funny how little time you actually had here! And now you're going to graduate!"
"Yep, I love the school system." She replied jokingly.
"Looks like this is it gang!" Harry exclaimed happily.
Peter sighed. "If only we had a dog, it'd be perfect." He replied to Harry's comment.
"Maybe in College Pete." Harry remarked back with a smirk.
"Or a cat. They're super cute and more able to take care of themselves with our busy schedules." Gwen suggested.
MJ shrugged. "Both of them are freaking adorable."
Peter nodded in agreement. "Oh yes, by far! Though it's missing my point of the joke, ah whatever! Let's go!"
They walked in and got ready looking forward to the graduation, the biggest moment and final one, of their entire time at high school.
Later on the ceremony commenced and caps were thrown, then likely having to be picked up again by a janitor later. So they'd be reused naturally.
Everyone was super excited, it was great seeing everyone so happy for Peter, all the familiar faces, from Flash Thompson, Kenny Kong, Sally Avril and even someone hardly seen Max Dillion and even more faces whose names didn't appear instantly in Peter's head at the moment. Aunt May was one of the loudest cheering and clapping. It was all so wonderful.
"Oh Peter! You graduated! This is wonderful! And I've gotten so many pictures!" She exclaimed, hugging him very tightly enough to strangle him.
MJ rushed over to him, hugging Aunt May first and then Peter tightly too. "Looks like we've done it, survived high school!"
Peter laughed. "Literally in some cases."
Both Gwen and Harry rushed over to them too, all having more hugs.
"Looks as if we're finally done here, now we're going to have to deal with what comes next, just great!" Harry joked.
Gwen grabbed Harry. "We'll get through it and now, I think as you'd say we should let these crazy kids alone."
"I would differently say that in this case, yeah!" They walked off.
Aunt May looked at them. "Do you want time alone or are they being little jokers?" She asked unsure.
They both looked at her. "Somewhat." Both said in sync.
She nodded and walked off for now.
"So, we're both feeling something right?" Mary Jane asked genuinely.
"Yes, I'd say quite right to that. So, what should we do?" He asked.
She looked sure in her response. "A date? A real one, maybe?" Then less sure as the words actually came out.
"I would love that a whole big macing lot. My jokes are starting to crash and burn aren't they?" Peter asked.
"No, you're just recharging for better ones." She replied.
Peter frowned. "Was kinda hoping you were going to disagree." He then laughed.
She laughed too and they walked back to their friends.
Later into the day, the whole group had a very wonderful dinner out thanks to Norman Osborn who graciously paid for everyone. It was a great time out and having all the families back together, the last time something like this happened, well might've very well be never. Peter could even feel like Uncle Ben was right alongside them and his parents who he missed too, but felt them cheering him on still which felt amazing. Somewhere, they most certainly were.
After everyone was home, Peter and MJ met as their Aunts celebrated. Now sitting on the rooftop for this special occasion.
"So what do you think is in store for this new chapter in our life?" She asked.
Elsewhere, other events were occurring.
Ned Leeds sat in prison feeling completely defeated in his crummy cell. Until a guard surprisingly dropped him a letter secretly.
"You did surprisingly well, came close to even killing Wilson Fisk. If the day arrives of him walking free, you've got a friend who'll gladly want to give you a second shot upon that fateful day. The Crime Master's story isn't over yet, Mr. Leeds." The letter was signed anonymously.
This was a pleasant sight, knowing there was an ally out there for him, but one that'd mean great trouble for the city whenever that day arrived.
Another place, Chance was in deep trouble from a mysterious angry powerful man.
"You lost your bet, again. And now you've got a lot of debt needing to be paid off or you'll be killed Powell, I'm afraid to say."
A woman was on the phone listening in. "You should listen to my husband, it'd be a waste having you get killed for all your failures."
"Thank you Sable." He replied, getting up in Chance's face. "You understand Powell? We'll protect you, but not for very long if you don't comply." He threatened.
"Of course sir, thank you Foreigner. And thank you too Ms. Silver Sable. I'll do whatever you need me!" He said intimated, but also not egure in the slightest to listen to them, thinking of a way of getting out of this argument.
Finally, Norman Osborn sat in his home office on the phone as Harry was out having a lovely time with Gwen. He was quite proud of his son's achievements, truthfully so, it was a great moment. The news he was hearing too was only adding to this incredible day happening, it was a greatly exciting major breakthrough and a life changing moment, unknown to him now.
"Today's a great day, are you telling me the serum is complete?" He questioned someone over the phone.
"Indeed sir, with a little more testing it could very well work flawlessly on human subjects! Your hardwork has paid off! The formula you concocted it's brilliant!" They exclaimed to him.
"Excellent, now I want this under wraps, Stromm. It's my life's work and I'll be the first one to test it. Only the two of us will be aware of that." Norman said calmly.
Stromm understood. "Of course Norman, I'll be sure of that. However, Otto knows about it too. Will it be an issue?" If this fell into the wrong hands, it could be devastating. Not to mention world changing."
"Thank Mendel, no he won't be. He knows to keep his mouth shut, he's scared of his own shadow quite frankly. Nobody needs to worry about him spilling out secrets." He hung up and was pleased by this development, hearing of his life work, The Green being finally close to compilation.
Back with Peter and Mary Jane, an answer to her question wasn't an easy one for him to come up with.
"Honestly, I've got no clue. Anything is possible at this point. My life seems ever changing and danger is around every corner. Sometimes I can't help wondering if I'm too dangerous to be around." Peter admitted.
MJ shook her head. "Not a chance."
Peter laughed. "Chance."
"What?" She asked, confused.
"Never mind."
MJ sighed. "My life would be significantly worse without you in it. So don't you even dare start thinking we'd be better apart."
"Okay, well you said it and I can't disagree with that." Peter replied.
They stared out at the sky, now having a beautiful sunset as a treat for their eyes.
"Wow, that's gorgeous." MJ leaned over to Peter holding him close.
"Yeah, it's a beautiful sight. And I'm so glad to be with you on this lovely sunset." He said happily with a bright smile, feeling hopeful for the future ahead, no matter what it'd bring. As long as Peter and MJ were together, nothing could ever be so bad.
Wow, I can't believe I can safely say I've completed The Crime Master arc and I couldn't be happier knowing it's over! My passion has been resurrected for this series and I'm very happy it has been. It's been strange to say the least of how the series nearly came to an end a month ago (at the time of writing this) and now I've reworked my entire plans and added a spin off to the pile of things I'm hoping to accomplish. Among other things on top of that.
I believe I've already stated this, but as I'm a windbag I'll say it again with more detail. From here on out I won't be breaking up the story into "arcs" or "volumes." There will be more one off adventures and longer storylines, but it'll be less dead focused on that, like here how everything connected to Crime Master, kinda got old for me personally though it's multiple factors why that wasn't the best. Anywho I believe going forward like this will give myself a lot more freedom, I hope you all will keep on enjoying. I've got lots of great ideas coming up.
Coming up will be paying off something I set up all the way at the start of the series and will be introducing more Spider-Man mainstays. Along with making a larger universe around our favourite Web Head.