Chapter Twenty Eight: Fight
Mary Jane had started to get worried. Pete always called every night at eight-thirty, he was a punctual guy… well, when he wasn't saving the city from god knows what. But the fact that he hadn't attempted a call meant that something was up because even when he was stopping a bank robbery or street mugging he usually managed a call.
She had texted at first. Then after an hour, she tried to call three times… but still nothing. She was now setting in aunt May's house having a cup of tea with the elderly woman making an attempt to put her worries at rest, even if her own were not.
"That boy, sometimes I don't know what to do with him. We didn't raise him to be so irresponsible. But each time…" May sighed.
"Aunt May, you really don't have to worry. Peter called at lunch and he sounded really tired. I bet he just fell asleep early. You know how he gets when he is on a project."
"Oh, you are such a good girl, Mary. That boy doesn't deserve such a pretty girl waiting on a call from him... You are such a beautiful young woman." If Peter had been there at that moment he probably would have fallen over in shock. She accentually just advised MJ to break up with him. Aunt May smiled for a moment until her words dawned on to her. "But I am so glad you are in his life!" She amended quickly.
MJ laughed at that. She had known May for many years and although she was one of the strongest and well-mannered women she had ever known, May was at times a little dense. How else would she have not figured out that her dear nephew was a masked superhero since he was thirteen years old?
"Have you thought about the future?" May unexpectedly asked
"The… future?" MJ gulped.
"Like where you will be going to college or what job you will be interning for things like that… Will you be getting an apartment in the city?"
MJ nearly had a heart attack. At May's words, her thoughts had gone in a completely different direction. It wasn't that she hadn't thought of marrying Peter... She was sure she was in love with him… but marriage was a long time off.
It wasn't long before she found a chance to leave. It wasn't that she was really freaked out about the misconception she had about aunt May's question from earlier. It was she had made a decision. Peter might be in trouble, she knew that she might get in the way if it was really dangerous. But she couldn't shake the feeling that he might need her tonight. She had learned to trust her instincts a long time ago…
Tonight she was driving to Bayville.
OUTSKIRTS OF BAYVILLE NEAR A JUNKYARD
It wasn't long before Kaine declared that he was going to use the pair of Spiders to make himself complete. The fighting had ensued. Jean's mental attacks had only worked to slow down Kaine, but the pair of masked spiders (to spite the fact they don't work well with others) were actually well coordinated with each other.
Jean couldn't help to think that if Peter could also join the X-men these two could make their own team by themselves. But she knew that could never happen. Ben had to be separated from Peter for a little while to have his own identity. Otherwise, he could never feel apart of the world, and he would always feel like his life was less important.
Kaine had stared out the battle in a flash! Barreling into Peter he managed to knock him off of the side of the building, and then he quickly sent a flying punch at Ben's head. Ben managed to dunk under the punch and attempted to flip Kaine over his head in a reversal, but Kaine's Height and muscle mass were too much for him to manage that feat. Kaine viciously sent a knee towards Ben's stomach. Jean knew if the knee connected to Ben's abdomen he would be out for the count. Acting quickly, Jean sent out a mental shield blocking most of the force of the blow.
Stumbling back Jean held her head out of shock. It wasn't often that she got residual feedback from a physical blow to her psychic ability, but she felt like a mountain had just hit her brain. The last time she had felt such a shock was from the 'Juggernaut'.
Then she realized what they were dealing with at that moment... Someone on the same level as the unstoppable Juggernaut! It had taken all of them to even remove that guy's helmet, and they only managed to take him down with the help of Professor Xavier.
This was going to be harder than she expected.
Soon Peter rejoined the battle as he attempted to kick the legs out from under Kaine. But the clone's senses were too enhanced to fall for such a base attempt.
"Are you trying at all?" Kaine's raspy voice asked in contempt. "There are obvious reasons that I should be the only Peter in this world… It's the best for everyone involved…"
"You have a point there…" At his words, everyone looked at him in shock, until he finished his sentence. "Yet again it is only the point on top of your head so it doesn't really count," Ben said in a deadpan tone.
"Ha! Good one!" Peter said.
"You know, you're accentually laughing t your own joke," Jean said sounding amused.
"Well I'm a funny guy," Peter said not pausing as he sent a web-line on Kaine's left wrist while Ben managed to fire another to his right. The two spiders started to wrap him up into a cocoon. Soon the masked figure was completely subdued into the combined webbing of the spiders, and all seemed to have finished for their fight.
With a Sigh of relief, Peter started looking for a place to set down for a rest when...
~RIP~
Faster than the eye could see Kaine ripped through the webbing and launched another round of attacks at the spider duo. With Kaine's precognitive abilities most attacks simply missed his massive body, and the few attacks that actually made their mark caused more damage to themselves than Kaine himself.
"So, when should we be expecting back up," Ben asked Jean after getting knocked several feet back near where she had been floating.
"I was hoping we could manage this ourselves, I got a message from Xavier earlier... There will be no backup. The team is on its way to Africa, Magneto is on the move."
"Damn, I was just coming around to the idea that teamwork... works." His lame attempt at a joke brought a beautiful smile to the redhead.
"Don't give up on me now spider boy," Jean said pulling him to his feet. "We still have a long night ahead of us."
Then she did something he hadn't expected, she leaned over and gave him a kiss on the cheek.
"For good luck..." She whispered as she blushed.
10 MILES OUTSIDE OF BAYVILLE
MJ had a crazy idea... at least she knew Peter would hate it. But if she was right and Peter was in trouble, she needed a little extra help to attempt to get him out. So she went to Peter's new apartment and grabbed Peter's backup web-shooters and costume before the thirty-minute trip to Bayville.
MJ didn't even know if she would be able to find him, but with the Police scanner, she snagged from Peter's apartment it shouldn't be that hard.
As she was approaching the city line she spotted three figures fighting on a rooftop. "Well, I guess I won't be needing the scanner. I hope I'm doing the right thing..."