Spider-Man: Into the Spider-verse

A Tangled Web we Weave

Four

Mary Jane Watson-Parker walked up to the older house and knocked on the door, then opened it as May called "Come in."

"Afternoon, May," MJ smiled faintly.

May Parker noted that MJ looked bone tired, which she supposed she couldn't blame her for. It had only been a few weeks since her husband had died. In addition to that stalkers and crazed fans of Peter's had sprung out of the woodwork. She now had a constant police escort, and SHIELD was keeping an eye out.

(Interesting, Wilson Fisk, the Kingpin, had ordered that MJ was to be left alone, and that any criminal hurting her would answer to HIM. Not, it should be noted, out of the goodness of his heart. He just knew that any harm to her would draw down SHIELD and the Ultimates on them.)

"I seem to remember you saying you would explain what was going on with those... Spider-People?" MJ asked pointedly as they had coffee.

May was glad she regularly swept the house for listening devices. "It's a long story," she gently cautioned.

MJ sipped her coffee, "We have time. Please?"

May sighed as she sipped her own drink. Peter had chosen to keep MJ in the dark about parts of his life as Spider-Man. Not that she could blame him... keeping her in the dark probably had kept Kingpin from going after her. But that left May trying to explain everything... and part of her really resented Peter putting her in this situation.

So May sketched in the details about the Collider that Fisk had built covertly, the plan to search other dimensions for his lost wife and son, and how the various Spiders came through by accident. And then ended up at May's house, as it appeared to be a universal constant.

"Nazi-fighting Peter?" MJ blinked, trying to take it all in. "SPIDER HAM. Seriously?" May nodded and MJ snickered softly. "I think I met the 'Dad-bod Peter' that you described," MJ mused a little sadly.

"So they got into the Collider, used it to send everyone home, then the younger Spider-Man stopped Fisk," May concluded.

"I'm not sure how I feel about there being a new Spider-Man," MJ admitted thoughtfully.

There really wasn't much May could say about that...

MJ put her cup down, then seemed to steel herself for something difficult. "Did Fisk kill Peter?" she asked.

"We don't know," May admitted. "It seems certain Peter stumbled over the Collider, and was overwhelmed. He at least ordered it..."

"And he's going to get away with it," MJ shook her head.

"Men like this go down eventually," May said calmly.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

"CHARGES AGAINST WILSON FISK DROPPED," the headline said.

"What the fuck," Miles muttered as he read the story on the smartphone he carried between classes.

Apparently the District Attorney's office had decided there wasn't enough evidence to charge him. The Federal Govt were still looking into the Collider and how it had gotten built under the city, but that was a separate thing.

"Hey, you're gonna be late," Cindy Moon teased as they rushed.

"Yeah, yeah," Miles smiled wryly as they hurried into the lecture hall.

The two made it in just before the bell, though the teacher scowled at them. "Everyone, quiet down," she ordered, "we have a special guest."

Miles danger sense went off... but weakly. 'Huh?' he blinked.

"Hello, everyone," Liz Octavius breezed in.

"Squeee!" Cindy Moon 'squeed'.

'HUH?' Miles repeated mentally.

Liv had (apparently) completely recovered from the beating she had gotten from the Spider-folk, and seemed to be full of energy. "I was invited to guest lecture a bit," she explained cheerfully, "so I hope we can all get along."

A student started to say something...

"And NO making 'Dr Octopus' comments. Or I'll ask your teacher to flunk you," Liv added cheerfully, but with a dangerous twinkle in her eye.

"She's SO cool," Cindy sighed dreamily.

Miles looked over at her curiously, "Really?"

"Of COURSE. You should totally read her papers on interdimensional theory," Cindy said excitedly.

"A-hem," Liv cleared her throat and they both realized they'd been a little loud. Cindy went bright pink.

"Sorry," Miles apologized.

"It's fine," Liv chuckled, "and Cindy, I'll sign an autograph for you later." Cindy blushed even harder. "Miles, as you were brave enough to answer," she continued, "based on the math we discussed... what would happen if two dimensions overlapped?"

"A hypothetical incursion event?" Miles clarified. When she nodded he continued, "Well, if the dimensional walls hold, they should just... bounce off each other. But if the walls fail, they might completely overlap, then mutually destruct."

"Exactly!" Liv nodded, "Well done."

With a relieved sigh Miles sat down.

Liv continued, "Part of why I'm interested in dimensional research is the possibility of stopping an incursion event." She flashed a grin, "Or causing one."

'Is that part of why she was working with Fisk?' Miles had to wonder. 'Nah,' he decided.

"Okay," Liv continued, "using the Richards Dimensional Variance formula, you can calculate..."

Once class finished, Miles had to admit, Liv was an entertaining lecturer.

"I want to talk to her," Cindy said. "Come up with me."

Miles couldn't blame her for nervousness, so he followed his classmate up front. "Again, I'm sorry for talking during class," Miles apologized.

"It's fine," Liv waved it off, "you know your stuff, clearly." She looked at Cindy and asked, "Still want the autograph?"

"Please!" Cindy squeaked.

Liv sighed a post-it, then added, "I'm always glad to see women getting into science."

Miles felt a bit left out, though on the other hand he was glad she hadn't said something about 'minorities in science' or something.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

"I'm not sure I feel like going out right now," May said over the phone.

Liv winced. She had seen the paper too. "I understand how you feel," she said, "but you have to eat, too, May."

"You understand?" May said dryly.

"Okay, poor choice of words," Liv sighed.

"I am honestly too angry to be good company right now," May said firmly, "I'm sorry."

They finished up, and Liv sat back in her apartment with a sigh. She had actually considering going to the police... but Wilson had been clever. There was no paper trail, the Collider was built via shell companies. It would just be her word against his. Nor had she witnessed Spider-Man's death.

And Wilson had documentation from when she had voluntarily been committed for bipolar issues. He could pretty much destroy her career if he wanted to... No, at this point testifying was out. Going forward all she could do was try to make up for her actions as best she could.

Liv's stomach growled. Other than a fast lunch at Horizon (Good food, actually.) she hadn't ate today. With a sigh she got up, put on a coat and headed out. Maybe she would get takeout.

To be continued...

Notes: I'm assuming MJ was kept in the dark about Fisk, or else I can't imagine her going along with the tribute to Spider-Man event he held.

I don't think canonly we know if May knows that Fisk himself killed Peter. I'm going with no, but May knows that Fisk or someone in his employ did it. So not a huge difference.

The Interdimensional Incursions talk is loosely based on stories that lead up to Marvel's Secret Wars megacrossover. Not planning to actually crossover it, but I like the background being consistant.

With Liv's work at Alchemax slowing, it occured to me she could do the 'visiting professor' thing at Horizon Academy. Thoughts?

Wanted to explain why Liv isn't testifying against Fisk. Her being bipolar/manic depressive is purely my headcanon, not from the movie.