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Another Strand In The Great Web – Episode Twenty-Six The Gauntlet Part Two Shed
Parker Residence on Western Long Island, night
"I can hardly believe such a dreadful man will be our next mayor," Jarvis said shaking his head in disbelief.
"Oh dear, he'll surely cause trouble for Peter, Mary Jane, and young Ben." Aunt May fretted.
Jarvis sat on the living room sofa alongside Aunt May. They watched with mounting horror as New York City Mayor-Elect J. Jonah Jameson gave his bombastic acceptance speech while running down "costumed hooligans" at every opportunity. The election had been a close one but in the end, Jonah came out on top if by a thin margin.
Mary Jane still in her torn and dirty Spinneret costume burst into the living room through the french doors which separated it from the rest of the ground floor. She tore off her mask. Her face was swollen and bruised, her eyes wild.
"Is Peter here?" Mary Jane asked a frantic undercurrent in her voice.
"He isn't here," Jarvis said pausing the TV via remote. "We thought he was with you."
"He was, until,,," Mary Jane's voice trailed off a distant look in her eyes.
"What happened, Mary Jane? Is Peter alright?" Aunt Mary said jumping to her feet followed closely by Jarvis.
"Physically yes, emotionally I don't think so." Mary Jane said.
"What happened to Peter?" Jarvis said while trying to remain calm.
"We were chasing the Lizard, Peter and me." Mary Jane said her voice growing distant. "The Lizard had abducted Billy Connors. We cornered the Lizard but before we could act some group of strange jungle people attacked us, Lizard escaped in the confusion. By the time we fought them off and found Lizard again we were too late. Lizard, he, oh my god, it was so awful..." Mary Jane's hand went over her mouth. She looked as if she was about to be sick.
"What did Lizard do?" Jarvis asked slowly.
Mary Jane removed her hand from her mouth. Her eyes were full of tears. "He killed Billy right in front of us. Peter was only a couple of feet away. A few more seconds and Billy would have been safe, Peter would have saved him or I would have. He, he, Lizard, ah, he, he bit Billy's head off." Mary Jane said tears streaming down her face.
Aunt May gasped. Jarvis stared stonily ahead. No one said anything for a long time. The room fell eerily silent.
"What happened next?" Jarvis finally asked.
"I had to pull Peter off the Lizard. I really think Peter would have killed him if I hadn't been there. I tried to talk with Peter but he just ran, I couldn't keep up no matter how hard I tried. Peter won't answer his phone or he's thrown it away, I'm not sure which is more likely. I contacted Ben he's out searching the city for Peter. Ben said I should check back here just in case Peter came home." Mary Jane answered. Tears flowed down her cheeks unabated.
"Where is the Lizard now?" Jarvis said while struggling to remain strong for the others.
"On the Raft I suppose. I returned to the scene after Peter eluded me and I waited there until he was taken away by the police. There is nothing left of Curt Connors. He's just a roaring monster now." Mary Jane said blinking away some of her tears from her red eyes. Aunt May walked over and placed her arms around Mary Jane who cried more loudly. "Billy Connors is dead because we failed him, Aunt May. Maybe Jameson is right we, I should stop playing hero. I really have no idea what I'm doing. Peter has been Spider-Man for well over a decade. Me, I'm nothing but a pretender. Father is right I'm only a bimbo in a cosplay suit. I have no right being out there. Who knows, if I wasn't there today maybe Peter would have been less distracted and would have managed to save Billy Connors." Mary Jane cried into Aunt May's shoulder.
"Nonsense," Aunt May said firmly.
"But-," Mary Jane protested.
"Look at my Mary Jane." Aunt May said. Mary Jane took a step back and looked into the caring face of the older woman. "You can't save everyone every time they need saving, no one can. No person, no superhero has a spotless track record. Even Captain America failed to save Bucky from Hydra. All you can do is learn from your mistakes and give everything you have each time people are in danger. The best way to honor Billy Connors' memory is not by giving up on yourself but rather to try that much harder. If Peter was here I'd tell him the exact same thing I'm telling you."
"Thank you, Aunt May. I really needed a pep talk." Mary Jane said wiping tears from her eyes.
"Anytime, dear," Aunt May said smiling.
"Go find Peter, bring him home where he belongs. We'll hold down the fort until you do." Jarvis said.
Mary Jane put her mask back on. "I'll be back soon as I can." Spinneret said before she departed.
Atop the Suspension Tower of the George Washington Bridge
"How did you know to find me here?" Spider-Man asked not even turning around to confirm the sound he heard was Iron Spider landing behind him.
"Because this is where I would also come in a time of personal crisis." Iron Spider said. Neither dare voice the obvious reason why this place loomed so large in the darkest recesses of their shared memories.
"I failed someone, again," Spider-Man said looking over the edge at the turbulent black water below memories flooded his mind far darker than the murky Hudson.
Iron Spider walked over until he stood to the right of Spider-Man. He to gazed down at the turbulent black water and thought of a terrible night long ago. "Sometimes no matter what we do bad things happen." Iron Spider said.
"Is that all you have to say; shit happens?" Spider-Man said in disbelief. "I expected more profound insights from you."
"I'm not finished." Iron Spider scolded. "The important thing is we try to keep the balance sheet in the red so that the good outweighs the bad."
"Billy Connors is dead and Curt Connors might as well be. Positive moral arithmetic won't help the Connors." Spider-Man said.
"You're right, it won't." Iron Spider conceded. "What will help them or rather their memory is doing your damndest to make sure nothing so horrific ever happens again."
"I'm not sure that is enough, not this time," Spider-Man said.
"What do you propose instead, stop being Spider-Man?" Iron Spider said.
"Perhaps," Spider-Man said.
"Please, don't try to bluff me you're bad at it. We both know you'll never walk away from being Spider-Man, you can't." Iron Spider said with a cold, mirthless laugh.
"I can't simply forget what happened," Spider-Man said.
"I wouldn't expect you to." Iron Spider said.
"I keep thinking what if that had been little May or April," Spider-Man said.
"It'll never be either of them. I promise you we'll keep them safe together." Iron Spider said with conviction.
"You can't make that promise, no one can, especially not me," Spider-Man said. "Why are you even here? This was supposed to be your night off."
"Yeah, it was. I'm missing a Yankees game. I scored nice seats I might add. My date was She-Hulk freakin' She-Hulk, She-Hulk, man. You only get one chance with She-Hulk and I blew it!" Iron Spider said with a pang of regret.
Spider-Man could not help but chuckle. "You chose me over She-Hulk. Aw, I feel so special bro."
"Don't flatter yourself." Iron Spider said with a chuckle of his own. "I came as a favor to MJ. She is worried sick about you, we both are."
"See I knew you cared," Spider-Man said as the two turned to face each other.
"Go home, Peter. MJ is waiting for you there." Iron Spider said.
"What about you, Ben?" Spider-Man said.
"I'll see if Jen is up for some late innings." Iron Spider said.
Spider-Man checked the chronometer built-in to his suit. "It's a little late. The game is probably over already."
"Who said anything about baseball?" Iron Spider said suggestively.
"Hey, keep it PG. I'm a family man remember." Spider-Man said.
"Well, enjoying being a family man. I'm still a swinging bachelor." Iron Spider said he then added. "We good, bro?"
"We're good, bro," Spider-Man said.
"Gamma city here I, hopefully, come, yahoo." Iron Spider said gliding off.
Parker Residence on Western Long Island, an hour later
"Shhh," Peter said index finger on his lips when he walked into the dark hallway and stood behind Mary Jane who was watching her daughters sleep through the doorway of their adjacent rooms. Peter's hand found his wife's and gave it a reassuring squeeze which she returned. No words were exchanged because no words were necessary. Mary Jane and Peter stood there for a long time until they were satisfied in their own minds that their girls were safe and sound. Peter had bumped into Mary Jane almost literally on his way back. After exchanging heartfelt words the pair returned home.
Later Peter and Mary Jane sat at their kitchen table discussing the events of the day over two cups of coffee. "I'm going after the Hunters," Peter said. "If they hadn't interfered Billy Connors might still be alive. I have to stop them before anyone else gets hurt or worse. I'll understand if would rather not be involved."
"I can't talk you out of this can I, tiger?" Mary Jane said.
"I'm afraid not, red," Peter said.
"I won't let you face danger alone if I can prevent it. Count me in." Mary Jane said. She placed her hand over Peter's. "Together until the end."
"Together until the end," Peter repeated.
The Raft Prison
"Could you quiet him down? I can't hear myself think let all own get any shut-eye!" Electro yelled from his cell door at a passing pair of guards. In a nearby cell, the Lizard wailed incessantly while throwing himself against the walls.
"We've already tranqed him with the strongest stuff we have. If you have any other ideas on how to muzzle him do tell." One of the guards said.
"The medics think he is sick." The second guard said.
"Maybe it's something he ate." The first guard said which elicited a laugh from his fellow guard and a deeper more anguished wail from the Lizard.
"Great just great," Electro said collapsing onto his bunk while putting his pillow over his head. "I get to listen to a sick lizard monster moan all night."
Lair of Kraven the Hunter somewhere in New York City the next day, morning
"We should kill the blind bitch." Said Vladimir Kravinoff aka the Grim Hunter as he stroked a knife along the arm of the bound Madame Web. Madame Web winched when he drew blood.
"Foolish boy we may yet have need of the mystic's abilities." Bellowed Sergei Kravinoff the legendary Kraven the Hunter and patriarch of the Kravinoff Clan. He violently backhanded his son away from Madame Web.
"Why bother we with her any longer. Her information has proven less than useless. Every time we go after the Spiders were either miss them or they fend us off like they did today." Alexei Kravinoff the youngest son of Sergei Kravinoff lamented.
"Alexi has a point, father." Anastasia "Ana" Kravinoff Sergei's daughters said. "I think she is holding back on us."
"Impossible," Kraven the Hunter said. "She is compelled by the magic chains which bind her to cooperate with us.
"Maybe they are on the fritz?" Alexi joked until a glare from his father prevented him from making any further comment.
"We should target the Parkers or the headquarters of Spidey Inc. Spider-Man and his equally deplorable partners will surely come running out of their holes if either is placed in danger." Aleksandra "Sasha" Nikolaevna wife of Kraven the Hunter reasoned with cold logic.
"Perhaps a more direct route is possible." Kraven the Hunter said eyeing the TV which sat in the corner. On the set, Mayor-Elect J. Jonah Jameson issued a challenge to the Spider Trio (as Spider-Man, Iron Spider and Spinneret were becoming known) to appear at his 1:00 pm press conference so he could publicly denounce them and their kind.
"Do you actually think they will attend the event, father?" Ana Kravinoff asked.
"Spider-Man has always been a glory hog. We'll use his attention seeking nature against him." Kraven the Hunter said. "Prepare yourselves at long last the true Hunter is about to begin."
To Be Continued
Next Up Grim Hunt!
Author's Note -
Sorry, this chapter was a tad shorter than usual. I simply could not bring myself to rewrite the death scene from the comics. It was perfectly awful as was and I could not possibly "improve" upon it or make it more impactful. Expect a much longer, more action-packed chapter next time as our heroes face off against the Kravinoff Clan as the cameras roll.