LEE HOSPITAL

As the rest of the adults talked amongst themselves, Peter, MJ, and Harry were all sitting in the chairs set up for the ceremony. They decided to take this moment to hang out as a group of three one last time before Harry went overseas, enjoying a friendship that not even a deadly illness can take away.

They later found themselves talking about another event that occurred earlier that day, which left Harry with an awkward expression on his face from what he heard from MJ, who sat between him and Peter. "So, the C.A.R.B. thing didn't pan out, did it?"

MJ let out an exasperated sigh before answering because that failed story for the school paper still felt like a fresh wound. "Not like I'd hoped. And it only felt worse when I texted Dr. Modell the bad news. He thanked me for trying, but he was really looking forward to having the story be published." As she went on, MJ's sour demeanor vanished and was replaced with a determined smile. "Luckily though, I had a Plan B!"

Of course, this answer caused great concern for both Peter and Harry, as they knew how tenacious MJ could be getting her thoughts and opinions known and what problems could come of it whether she intended it or not. Of the two of them, Peter reluctantly asked the question on their minds. "And 'Plan B' was…?"

The smirking MJ answered by pulling out her iPhone and dabbing the screen until she made it to the C.A.R.B. video. "The Internet!" MJ declared as she showed the video to her two friends, who were glad she didn't go to the extreme. "With Dr. Modell's permission, I posted the video on Youtube and left a link to his GoFundMe page!"

Harry, as much as he found MJ's unwillingness to give up on a goal her best and most appealing quality, was proud that the fiery redhead chose to take a more peaceful approach to get this C.A.R.B. project some attention. Or at least peaceful when it came to MJ herself. "Nice," Harry told her in a supportive tone. "So, how many views have you gotten?"

MJ checked the bottom of the video, which showed the number of views, and what she saw left her discouraged. "Three, along with one like," MJ declared, sounding defeated. "Talk about a promising start."

Peter hated to see MJ sad when she saw that her efforts in helping a scientist's project get attention had little to no positive results. It reminded him of whenever he was at the Bugle, his telling of how, as Spider-Man, was trying to help people and not terrorize them would fall on deaf ears. More accurately, Jonah's ears. It was a feeling of failure that would often eat him alive, and it broke his heart even more to see the girl he cared about the most going through it. Moments later, however, Peter noticed something on MJ's iPhone that caught his interest.

At the bottom of the C.A.R.B. video was a picture of another video about to play next. Namely a nasty debate between two prominent people. The first being psychiatrist, Dr. Leslie Wells, who was a blonde-haired, middle-aged woman with pale skin and in a grey business suit. And the other is Axel Beckett, lead singer of the punk band called the Killer Roaches and shown to be a skinny man with a small silver chain connected to his right earring and nose ring, a red mohawk, a sleeveless black vest over a white T-Shirt with a flaming skull on the center black leather pants and boots. And the issue these two big names were fighting over was whether or not punk rock music should be declared illegal in New York.

Interestingly, it was the sight of Dr. Wells that caught Peter's attention. More accurately, her blonde hair and attire. As it reminded him of something that happened…

HELL'S KITCHEN, THE NIGHT BEFORE

…Inside a dark alleyway, a young and attractive blonde-haired woman in her early thirties and wearing a grey overcoat was being backed up against the wall by a black-haired man with a five o'clock shadow, mainly due to not having time to shave rather than fashion and dressed in street clothing. He had his right hand over the woman's mouth to muffle up her screaming while he used his left hand to grab her purse and drop it to the ground, just in case she had either pepper spray or a taser, and she could prevent her from using such things.

After taking care of the purse, which he planned to rummage through for cash, the male thug reached in his left pocket, pulled out a switchblade, and used the tip of his thumb to press the button that caused the blade to pop out, which caused the woman's screaming to stop and her eyes to grow with fright. "Listen up, lady!" The thug hissed as he held the blade's tip close to the woman's cheek. Moments later, he looked up and down the woman's body, from her legs to her chest, making him smirk as he had 'other ideas' about what he could get out of her. "You're gonna be very quiet and let me-."

Suddenly, the thug is surprised when he sees a web-line stick to the blade and yanks the weapon out of his left hand. This startled the thug enough to make him release his hold over the woman's mouth and turn around, and what he saw shocked him to see where the line came from.

It was none other than Peter, in his Spider-Man costume, sticking to the wall via his right hand and feet, with his left hand held out so he could catch the knife and throw it into the dumpster below. Though he didn't show it, he was aggravated because he planned on going to Lee Hospital to visit Harry, but by the time he got there, visiting hours were over, and he was turned away. As a result, he decided to swing around the city until he cooled off and ended up in Hell's Kitchen and eventually ended up with the thug attempting to force himself on the woman. As mad as he was, Peter still couldn't ignore an innocent who was in danger and thus decided to butt in. "Hey buddy," Peter called out in a light-hearted tone to hide his frustration in not going to the hospital. "Sleazy idiot who gets covered in webs says what?"

Understandably, the thug's shock turned to confusion once he heard such a question. "What?"

As the thug stood there completely bewildered, Peter took this opportunity to point both hands out with blinding speed, then rapidly tapped the buttons in his palms to fire web bullets out of his wrists and, except for his head, covered the thug's upper body and legs. Within seconds, the bound thug fell to the pavement. "Hey, what the fu-!" Before the thug could finish that sentence, he was cut off when Peter fired another web ball which hit and covered his mouth.

"Language! There's a lady present!" Peter told the thug, then turned his attention to the woman, who at this point bent down and picked up her purse. Though he was glad the woman didn't appear injured, Peter felt somewhat reluctant to talk to her. After all, he was still annoyed with how he was 'thanked' by the couple he saved from getting run over by the robbers' getaway car and wasn't expecting this woman's gratitude to be any different. Regardless, being a hero meant he still had the responsibility to protect the city's people and, as such, needed to be absolutely sure that the woman indeed was unharmed. "Hey, uh, 'ma'am,' are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," the woman replied as she hung the purse's strap over her shoulder, then looked up at Peter and gave him a grateful smile. "Thanks."

By habit, Peter rolled his eyes in aggravation behind his eye lenses. "Look, I'm not here to hurt you as Jameson would like you to believe; I'm just here to-." Suddenly, Peter paused in surprise when he realized that the woman actually thanked him, then looked at her with widened eyes. "Say what now?"

"I said thanks for saving my life," the woman clarified with a small laugh. "I mean, yes, I've seen some of Jameson's reports about you, but I'm not one of the people who buy his crap. I know heroes when I see them, and you webbing up that creep clearly puts you in the latter."

For Peter, the sound of anyone thanking him for saving their life was like music to his ears. So much so that he almost was teary-eyed behind his lenses. "Where have you been all my life?" Peter asked with a quivering but happy voice, which earned him an awkward look from the woman he had just saved. Realizing that his tone sent the conversation south, Peter shook his head, regained his composure, and sat up straight to appear more heroic. "I-I mean, thanks. It's nice to have a fan!"

The woman giggled at Peter's attempt to be stoic, but she understood his reaction given how much-undeserved hate he's received. "Well, don't expect me to start a fan club, but I'll spread the word on how you're one of the good guys."

"Much appreciated," Peter replied with a small smile behind his mask, then looked down at the webbed-up thug, shot two web-lines out of his wrists, which in turn connected to his shoulders, then pulled him up off the ground and straight towards his open arms. For any other man, catching someone like the thug, who appeared to be around two-hundred pounds, who be physically tasking. But thanks to possessing the proportionate strength of a spider, Peter not only caught the thug without difficulty but for him, it was like catching a beach ball, which made it easier for him to hoist the webbed-up criminal over his shoulder. "Well, I'll go ahead and drop this guy off to the cops," Peter said nonchalantly, which resulted in muffled pleading from the thug, as he had just gotten out of jail and did not want to go back. However, because the thug's fearful begging was incoherent, Peter just assumed that it was angry ranting and showed no interest. "Right back at you, pal." After dismissing the thug's muffled words, Peter turned back to the blonde. "But anyway, thanks for giving your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man the positive review, and please, tell your friends. Also, as great as the Great Apple is, travel alone in it at night. Take care!" With that cheerful goodbye, Peter pointed his left hand upward, shot a line, and swung off, with the plan of dropping off the thug at the nearby police station…

PRESENT DAY

…And it was the memory of what that woman said was one of the very few things that inspired Peter to go on as Spider-Man. The feeling that there were people who knew that he was trying to help people and not terrorize them was a great feeling, one which no amount of money could buy. Even if it was money that came from Jameson himself. And in seeing MJ feeling depressed and defeated, as he remembered seeing her like this on that faithful 'study night' in the early days of their friendship, he knew that it was a feeling that she needed as well. As such, he decided to share it in the form of a pep talk.

"Well, you know, MJ," Peter said gently but with a more sheepish tone. "Spider-Man pretty has the same number of supporters as the video, and I wouldn't call it a bad thing."

Naturally, this statement confused MJ enough to make her turn and give Peter a bewildered look. This also spurred confusion within Harry, and thus he looked at his friend just as dumbfounded.

Once Peter saw that he had MJ's attention, as well as feeling a bit perplexed that Harry was looking at him, he continued. "Yeah, one night, I caught a glimpse of Spider-Man saving a woman from getting mugged, and she thanked him!" Peter said half-truthfully for the sake of keeping his identity secret. "She even said she would tell her friends that he just wants to help. And if I had my camera, I would've recorded it to prove it to you." Upon remembering the woman, Peter had an intrigued look on his face as he tilted his head to the left. "Plus, I also wish I could've recorded her. She was pretty hot. I wonder if her friends are supermodels-."

Through the corner of his right eye, Peter saw that MJ was looking more confused and a bit agitated when he mentioned the woman he saved, and thus shook his head to regain focus. "Right, getting sidetracked, sorry. The point is, if Spider-Man can inspire one person enough to spread the word about him, then you can too! The likes you got on your video are proof of that; you just have to give it time and keep your head up." Peter then sealed MJ's pep talk with a confident smile. "And besides, MJ, you're one of the most driven people I know, and you've never let anything stop you before. Be it getting a story published for the paper or fighting for a good cause. An aspect that I personally don't want you to lose."

Usually, MJ would take these words as something that the school's guidance counselor would tell, that it is when she did something that would send her to her office. But she heard it from Peter, and how he said it with a mixture of support and strength in his eyes, she couldn't help but find it moving and encouraging. Something which made MJ admire Peter all the much more and cherished him as one of her true friends since moving to New York. All of which brought a smile to MJ's face. "If that came out from someone other than you, Parker, it would be the corniest thing I've ever heard…instead of the most helpful thing I've heard all day."

Peter gave the perked-up MJ a nod in reply. "Well, I aim to please. And in this case, I hope it's helpful enough for me not to get the Flash Thompson treatment."

This remark made MJ giggle a bit. "Well…not this time," she replied playfully. "Only because you've once again shown to be a good friend. Thanks, Tiger."

At that moment, Peter and MJ just smiled and stared at one another. As if they were sharing a silent, bonding moment. One that, just like on their way out of school, made them wonder if they had something more than friendship.

And though Harry was glad to see MJ back in high spirits, he didn't want Peter to be the only one to cheer her up and thus decided to jump in. "And," said Harry in a mockingly smug tone, which caused MJ and Peter to turn and face him. "Since I'm the one who first introduced you to my helpful best friend, Ms. Watson…your welcome."

MJ couldn't help but laugh, as she always found Harry's playful nature enduring. "Okay, okay, thanks, Harry," she told the ailing young man, then turned back to Peter. "Thanks to both of you. I know I can always count on you guys, even though you can give me a headache sometimes."

Suddenly, the tranquil mood is interrupted by the high-pitched sound of Anna Watson, who had already had her iPhone out. "Mary-Jane!" Anna called out, causing MJ, along with Peter and Harry, to look up, horrified, and embarrassing Phillip and May.

Though embarrassed beyond belief, MJ didn't want what time she had left with Harry to be ruined with her giving her mother irritated sass, and thus decided to look at her with a fake smile, with Peter and Harry following suit. "But not as painful as this one," MJ said quietly through gritted teeth within her phony grin.

"Wait there so I can take a picture with you and your friends!" Anna said enthusiastically. "You just all look so cute together, and it'll make Janet's day!"

As Anna made her way to the three teens, May walked with her and gave her nephew and his friends an uneasy expression as if to tell them, 'I'm sorry, I tried to stop her.'

While waiting for the giddy Anna to come, Peter seemed confused with the name that Anna blurted out and thus decided to ask MJ what she was revering to, albeit following her strategy by speaking through tightly shut teeth. "Uh, who's Janet?"

"Somebody who works at my Mom's favorite store," MJ explained, brewing with irritation. "Where she bought this pink monstrosity that I'm wearing."

Harry, while also putting on a fake smile, briefly placed his hand on her shoulder. "Well, on the bright side, you're not going to suffer alone."

MJ only turned her eyes and looked at Harry with narrowed eyes. "Thanks for the vote in confidence."

Peter gave this remark while sitting stiff as a board and grinning so hard that his cheeks started hurting. "Hey, what are friends for?"

Once Anna arrived, the three teens sat there stiff like prisoners waiting to be shot by a firing squad. And instead of bullets, it was that of an overzealous mother taking shots at them with her iPhone to show them to her friends through social media, much to MJ's dismay.

ELSEWHERE

Inside the living room of a lavish apartment, one with decorations of a more western theme, there was a light-skinned man in his mid-thirties wearing a red sweater, khaki pants, and cowboy boots sitting on his cow-skinned couch, looking at a laptop on his wooden coffee table. His real name was Jackson Brice, a hitman who went under the codename of his home state, Montana, and was the leader of Wilson Fisk's personal 'problem fixers,' the Enforcers. On the laptop, Jackson was in the middle of a Skype chat with Wesley and saw video feeds of Spider-Man when he's swinging around or stopping a runaway car. Some of which caused him to raise an intrigued eyebrow. "Well, I'll say this. The boy's jumpier than a frog on Texas tarmac."

An unamused Wesley let out a short breath, as he was never a fan of 'southern lingo .'"Yes, well, this 'boy' has been interfering in many of our heists lately and is becoming a problem. Along with the video feed, I've sent a list of known locations where he's been spotted."

"And I take it the boss man wants us to find this spider and squash him?"

"As quickly as possible," Wesley replied sternly. "And he's hoping you'll be as efficient with this Spider-Man as you were with Slott."

Jackson only smirked at Wesley as a subtle way to show him that he's not scared of threats coming from someone like him, especially when they're not even in the same room. "Don't you worry about a thing, Wesley," said Jackson reassuringly in a chipper tone. "We've never let the Kingpin down yet when it comes to jobs, and we ain't about to start now. So, tell the boss that, just like we took care of Slott, the Enforcers will take care of his bug problem."