saudade

After his university lectures were finished, Peter went to the café where he’d meet MJ. She was already sitting in a corner.

“Hi, MJ, how’s your day going?”, he greeted her and sat down.

“Good. How about you?”

“Good as well. How’s John?”

“He’s fine. We’re both busy with wedding preparations you know”, she said.

“You don’t sound very excited about it”, Peter responded quietly.

“It’s just … I’m so nervous. I don’t know anything at the moment.” MJ sighed.

“Hey, I’m sure it’s normal. Don’t worry, it’ll pass”, Peter tried to calm her down.

“I’m questioning everything. I love John but is it enough?”

“Of course, it’s enough. If he makes you feel worthy and safe and you make him feel the same, it’s enough.”

“Thank you, Peter. But let’s talk about something else. I don’t want to think about it anymore. How’s Harry doing?”, she asked.

“He’s doing well. His therapy pays off and he’s happier. We’re both happier”, Peter said.

“That’s good to hear. I haven’t asked how your picknick date went.”

“It was amazing. You were a genius for this suggestion. I hadn’t seen him that happy in a long time.”

“I’m glad to hear that.” MJ smiled. “I bet things between you weren’t always easy.”

Peter nodded.

“Oh, I’m sorry. John is calling”, she excused herself.

“Pick up.”

“Are you sure? It’d be rude to have a call while being here with you.”

“It’s fine”, Peter assured her.

“I have to go now but I can’t wait to see you two at the weekend. Greet Harry from me”, MJ said.

“I will. It was nice to see you again.”

“It was my pleasure.”

They hugged each other and left the café.

Peter was on his way back home as a metallic gripping arm slammed him into a wall.

“What do you want?”, Peter asked Otto Octavius and tried to free himself.

“I want you to find your friend Spider-Man. Tell him to meet me at the Westside Tower at 3pm.”

Peter swallowed. “I don’t know who he is.”

“Find him or I’ll find Harry and peel the flesh off his bones”, Octavius threatened and used his gripping arms to demonstrate it.

“If you lay one finger at him-“

“You’ll do what?”

“I’ll kill you”, Peter said, and he meant it. If Harry got hurt, he couldn’t forgive himself.

Octavius laughed and let go of him. Then he left. Peter had to get his suit back. Maybe his powers would return as well. He had to return as Spider-Man. There was no other option left. Either Harry would get hurt and Doc Ock would do who knows what to the population of New York or he would return as Spider-Man. The answer was clear.

As Peter approached the building of The Daily Bugle, he tried to use his webs – and it worked. He swung up the building and jumped through a window into Jameson’s office to steal his suit back and swung through the window in the ceiling to get out.

A few blocks away, he put o his suit. He missed being Spider-Man. It was a part of who he was.

He enjoyed swinging through New York’s streets and climbed up the Westside Tower. Doc Ock was already waiting for him.

“Let’s talk”, Doc Ock said but he punched Peter immediately.

They punched and kicked each other on the edge of the tower.

Peter was pushed off the edge, but he caught himself with his webs. He could trust them again – and therefore, he could trust himself again. He shot some webs directly into Doc Ock’s face and pulled his enemy off the edge. Together, they fell and landed on the roof of a train.

As soon as Peter got up, he kicked Doc Ock in the face. It wasn’t the smartest idea since he got caught by the gripping arms which threw him into a bridge.

Peter closed his eyes and tensed every muscle in his body. It was a miracle that he flew through the metal bars unharmed. He bumped into Doc Ock, throwing him off the roof.

At the side of the train, they punched and kicked each other like there was no tomorrow. Doc Ock had Peter in his grip and slammed him right trough the door inside the train. The passengers screamed, their voices full of fear.

“You won’t get harmed, I promise”, Peter said and jumped through the next window.

Face to face with his enemy, Peter shot him with his webs, trying to throw him off the train but his webs got tangled in the metallic arms and Doc Ock was the one who almost threw Peter off the train if he hadn’t saved himself in time.

Peter couldn’t see his opponent anywhere, so he climbed on the roof again from where he caught a glimpse of the gripping arms right under the train.

Careful not to make a sound, Peter climbed down but Doc Ock was already on the opposite side. He punched Peter through the window and threw him off a bridge.

His body hurt like hell as he fell on the ground. Peter wanted nothing more than to lie down but he knew he couldn’t. A criminal had a whole train of innocent civilians in his hands. Who would save them if he wouldn’t do it?

So, he shot his webs and swung through the streets to get back to the train. As Peter landed, he threw himself on Doc Ock, trying to punch him but those damn arms threw Peter around like a marionette.

Again, Doc Ock tried to push him off the train, but he had to be steady. If he didn’t protect the people in it, nobody would.

When another train came from the other direction, Doc Ock let go of Peter. But Peter was prepared for it and jumped away just in time while he used his webs to swing.

His abilities didn’t let him down anymore. He was whole again.

Two civilians were in the hands of the gripping arms and his opponent threw them away one after another. Peter reacted quickly and caught the one person with his web thread and the other one with a whole web. He put both of them down on the floor before he got back on the train.

The train was getting faster and faster. The passengers in it screamed in panic. But Doc Ock just grinned at Peter. “You have a train to catch”, he said before he left.

“Help! Help! I can’t stop it!”, the driver of the train screamed as he saw Peter.

Peter pulled off his burning mask. The end of the tracks was near. The train with all the passengers in it was about to fall into death.

He had to stop it.

Peter jumped in front of the train and tried to stop it with his feet. It didn’t work and as his feet felt like they’d be removed from his body, he gave up. There had to be another possibility.

He shot webs to the houses on the left and the right of him, trying to slow down the train. Peter was pressed against the train. His whole strength was needed but the webs slipped out of his fingers. He desperately shot one web after the other to somehow make the train stop.

The windows broke, his suit tore apart and Peter screamed in pain. But he couldn’t let go. He had to save the people inside the train. They hit the barrier at the end of the track. Half of the train was hanging above the edge, but it stopped. As Peter recognised this, his sight turned black, and he fell.

As he woke up again, a bunch of people were looking down at him. Peter touched his face to check if he had on his mask – but he hadn’t! He sat up, trying to get a bit of orientation.

“Shh, it’s all right”, a man told him.

“We found something”, a little boy said, and his brother handed Peter his mask. “We won’t tell nobody.”

Peter smiled a little before he put on his mask.

“It’s good to have you back, Spider-Man”, the boy’s brother assured him.

New York was on his side again.

As the people surrounding him helped him to get up, the door broke apart.

“He’s mine!”, Doc Ock yelled.

“You wanna get to him, you gotta go through me”, someone said.

“And me.”

“Me too.”

“Very well”, Doc Ock said, his voice calm. Within seconds, the gripping arms shoved the people to the side.

“It’s fine. Let me go. He won’t hurt you”, Peter told the people who still held him. He didn’t want more people to get hurt because of him.

As soon as they did as he had told, one of the metal arms hit his head and Peter fell on the ground where he lay unconsciously.