Spider-Man: Marvel Knight

Chapter 9-Realization

   Gwen decided that she needed to take Peter home. He looked awful. He sounded awful. Peter looked like he didn't want to live anymore.
   She had led him to his bedroom so he could get some sleep. It was a long day and he couldn't stay awake constantly grieving over MJ if she was truly going to die.
   While Peter just about cried himself to sleep, Gwen tried to stay awake. Something about this whole situation seemed like it was her fault. If she wasn't there, would MJ be alright? Did Peter hate her for this? It was obvious that he was still getting over the whole powers situation, but what about this? This was something ten times worse. Their friend could be dead. Peter's girlfriend could be dead by the end of the night.
   As Gwen laid in her bed, she heard her phone buzz. She grabbed it and looked at the contact to see Harry's name. He had been out all night on patrol...she wondered if he found something out.
   She answered the phone. "Hey, Harry."
   "Hey," he said somewhat quietly. "I'm back at the hospital. I think I'm gonna spend the night here if that's alright. Liz came by and wants to do it. Don't think Mrs. Watson wants to be alone with MJ like this."
   Gwen nodded. "I understand completely," she said. "Thank you. Did you find anything?"
   Harry paced up and down the hospital corridor. He shook his head. "No," his side of the phone said. "They could be anywhere at this point to be honest. At this point I think that we just need to touch base in the morning. There's nothing more we can do tonight."
   "Yeah, I think so too," Gwen said, her voice a little shaky. It was clear from her voice that she had been crying over this whole situation.
   Harry rubbed his forehead and sat down in a nearby chair. "How's Peter taking this?" he asked.
   Gwen began to get a little choked up. She felt like crying when Harry asked her. This whole thing was tearing Peter up. "Not good," she said, her voice breaking a little.
   Harry could feel the sadness in her voice. He just nodded. "I know..." he said. He almost felt like breaking down, but he suppressed it. "He's been dealing with so much lately." He paused for a second to regain his composure. Harry knew Pete has been dealing with his migraines for a while now, ever since he started fighting all the bad guys that seemed to come out of nowhere. First it was Norman, then Electro....and then God knows how many more. "I'll talk to you guys tomorrow. We'll plan then."
   Gwen felt a single tear roll down her cheek. She wiped it quickly. "Okay...goodnight, Harry."
   "Goodnight, Gwen," Harry responded. "Stay safe." Then he hung up. He felt awful about everything that was happening. First it was his dad, and now this...
   He felt a sharp pain in his head. Another one... Peter wasn't the only one having migraines, and Harry's were much worse. They seemed to come out of nowhere lately, and it hurt him too much. He reached in his pocket and got a bottle of painkillers and popped two pills. With that, he moved back to MJ's room.
   Gwen put her phone back on the dresser next to her bed and laid down. Soon the realization kicked in. This really could be the end of her best friend, and Peter worried too much... what would happened if MJ died. She cried until she could cry no more and drifted off to sleep.
   She woke up the next day feeling somewhat refreshed. Her shoulders did feel a lot lighter, but there was still an impending sense of doom around. Hopefully, MJ lasted the night.
   Gwen walked to Peter's room where she found his empty bed. Where had he gone? Suddenly, she heard a sound coming from his bathroom. She moved towards the door and saw Peter with his head in the toilet. He was vomiting.
   "Peter?" Gwen asked softly. "Are you okay?"
   He took his head out of the toilet and wiped his chin. "What's wrong with me, Gwen?"
   She felt herself get choked up from that question. Peter was really in a tough spot now. "Why would you ask that, Peter?" she said, her voice breaking a little.
   He grabbed his forehead. It was clear that he was in pain. "Why couldn't I save her?"
   Gwen looked at Peter with concern. She wanted to cry. She moved down to him and placed her hand on his shoulder. "Peter, she's at the hospital. She's fighting, just like she wants us to."
   "Oh god, MJ," he said. "What have I done..." He broke out in tears.
Gwen went and grabbed him and held him close. "I can't save anyone. I couldn't save you, I couldn't save Norman, I couldn't save Otto, and now her...." Tears continued to stream down his face.
   Gwen held back her tears. "Peter," she started, "MJ wouldn't want you to be like this. She needs us to be strong." She felt a tear roll down her cheek. "She's gonna make it, Peter."
   Peter wiped the tears from his face. He leaned his head against her shoulder. "I love her so much, Gwen. I don't know what I'll do if she dies..."
   She heartbreakingly rested her head on top of his. "I know," she said while gently shushing him. She felt the tears coming down her face. "She's the angel we all count on."
   Peter felt Gwen beginning to cry too. He could tell that she was crying as well. "Don't you start, too," he said while brushing away her tears with his thumb.
   She held his hand close to her face and squeezed it. They both needed this. They hadn't really been this close with each other in a while. Although they weren't together anymore, there was still some love there. "What do we do now?" she asked him, clearing away the rest of her tears. "It's your call, Spider-Man."
   He wiped the tears from his face and tried to ignore the shooting pain in his head. Pete stood himself up and reached his hand out to hers. "We go on as if she was cheering us on," he said. Gwen smiled and took his hand. After they got dressed in normal clothes, they walked downstairs to see Harry pacing the floor.
   "Harry," Peter said a little surprised, "when did you get home last night?"
   Harry turned to them and breathed a sigh of relief. "I spent the night at the hospital." He rushed over to them. "I didn't get back here until a few hours ago." He hugged them and then looked at Peter. "How are you holding up?"
   Pete shook his head. "Not good, but I guess good enough," he responded. "I have to be strong for MJ." Harry nodded and smiled.
   Gwen looked at the window in confusion. It was very bright out. Did that sleep in? "What time is it now?" she asked.
   "11 AM," he replied. "I was...busy of sorts all last night."
   Peter raised his eyebrow. "What do you mean?"
   Harry went over to the couch and turned on the TV. "Let's just say shit went down after I stopped patroling last night. After he switched the channel to the news he put the remote down and let Peter and Gwen see for themselves.

"Police and military were busy last night trying to stop the rampage on the city from a mob of supercriminals. This group of five individuals, all criminals that the vigilante known as Spiderman had put in the Raft behind bars, attacked police precincts last night and threatened to destroy and kill more if their bargains weren't made. The following names on your screen are wanted for the attempted kidnapping of Dr. Kurt Connors, better know as the Lizard, and the attempted murder of Mary Jane Watson, a local girl from Queens."

   "Otto must be getting them to sweep the city for Kurt..." Peter's eyes got wide as he saw this. Gwen couldn't believe it, either. "He's going all out for this." He thought for a second. "But, wait a minute, from last night it seemed that Otto didn't mean to hurt MJ in the first place though...so what's going on?"
   Harry nodded. "From what I could uncover, it's clear that there was no purpose of hurting any of us," he said. "Now that this has happened, though, I'm not so sure. The doctors all said that there was no brain damage from his fight with the Lizard."
   Pete looked at his friend. "Well, they were wrong," he replied. "It's been burned into Otto's mind that killing Kurt will prove something...that it'll stop other criminals like him from rising in his place."
   Gwen joined into the conversation. "You said that he received the brain damage from his fight with Kurt, right?" Peter and Harry confirmed this. "What if the last thing on his mind got permanently burned into his neural system. I'm no genius, but that controller he wears as an earpiece looks like it taps directly into his brain. Am I right?"
   "That's what he told me," Harry said. He soon understood what Gwen was trying to tell him. "So your saying that the electric shock that hit him caused his final memory before his accident to replay over and over again in his head?"
   "It would explain his random anger towards Kurt all of a sudden," Peter said rubbing his head. "They're the best of friends their entire lives and now Otto wants to kill him because of something he couldn't control? It can't be something normal."
   Harry rubbed his forehead too. His migraines were getting worse as well. "How do we stop this?"
   "What about shocking him back?" Gwen asked. "A shock made him crazy, so a shock should make him uncrazy." They both looked at her with an eyebrow raised. "What? Seems logical to me."
   Peter smirked. "That would work. Neural waves are electrical signals. That shock knocked them out of whack." He scratched the back of his head. "In theory, a perfectly placed electrocution could allign them back in place."
   Harry shook his head. "Okay, we've got a plan, but how do we know where they are? I couldn't find anything last night and no one can roam the streets because of the citywide shutdown, plus they're probably expecting you and I to look for them. How do you know that they haven't created a device that detects our technology?"
   Peter nodded. Harry was giving some good points. "True...but there is one who could...someone who is very good at tracking."
   Harry immediately knew who he was thinking of. "Her again? You're using her a lot lately."
   "It worked last time with Kurt," Peter responded.
   Gwen was just confused about what was going on. "Wait a minute," she said. "Who's 'her?'"
   Peter looked at Gwen and smiled a little. "Actually, this is good," he said. "You could use some more spider practice, and trust me...she knows more about Spider-Man stuff than I do."
   Gwen was still confused. "Okay...I'm uh...gonna go get dressed in my spider practice...stuff..." She ran upstairs to her room to get her white hoodie and black leggings.
   Harry looked at Peter. "You think Gwen will be able to handle Felicia?"
   "More like will Felicia be able to handle Gwen," Pete responded with a smirk.
   Harry chuckled. Then, his demeanor turned into a sorrowful looking one. "Listen, Pete," he said. "I'm really sorry about MJ... But I know that she's gonna make it."
   Peter began to feel more tears form in his eyes, and he fought like hell to hold them back. He nodded. "I hope so."
   Harry just nodded. He really couldn't say anything else. He pulled Peter into a brotherly hug. "I love you, man. We're gonna get through this."
   Peter knew that they were gonna get through this. No matter what, they had to. He didn't know what he was going to do if they didn't...