The Many Loves of Spider-Man

Changing Fates (Martha Franklin, aka Aracnida)

She was afraid, tied up to a stone slab. She didn't want to admit that this was the end of the road for her, that it would be the last time that she would ever see the man that still laid in her heart. She didn't want to cry, she couldn't cry for her own death. She promised to Madame Web that she was not going to cry, and she would honor her words. He could only pray, pray for her life to be able to cross over to the promised land. She is religious, her beliefs have saved her many times and it would save her now. Even if it was from the hands of the devil.

She glanced to the side, looking just how the Kravinoffs were talking peacefully. She could guess that they were preparing for whatever they were going to do to her. Her heart skipped a beat as soon as she noticed the dagger in the matriarch of the Kravinoff's family. The shining steel reflected by the moon's light made her hitch her breath. She was fully prepared to face her death, but she really didn't want it to happen.

She had her whole life in front of her. A life that she wanted to spend not only protecting the civilians, but also being beside the man she had not been able to forget. A man that still was deep inside her heart and one that invaded her mind each moment of her life. Her feelings never left, her mind not letting her go of the sole man that had ever made her heart skip a beat. She still felt the bitterness of being rejected, but she knew that the moment she used to try and conquer him was not the most ideal moment.

"I'll miss you..." She whispered, her voice barely loud enough to not distract the preparatives of the ritual that she was going to be sacrificed to. She would have loved to let her tears free, to let them roam down her eyes as she pleaded for mercy. But she was bound by her word, something that it meant so much to her. She would not betray her word. Because even in death, she would be able to say that she had been true to her words. She was no liar and she was not about to start now.

She wanted to see him again, the wall-crawler and web swinging hero again. To be able to see him one last time before she departs from life. To see if she was able to truly confess her feelings for the man that she had loved for over four years now. She still remembers the kiss she stole, a moment that she would never forget. It had been one of her dreams to be able to kiss him with such raw feelings. She had been desperate in those moments of her youth, trying to find the one man that would love her even without her biological change was hard. BUt he never looked at her with hate, always staring at her with those eyes that only showed love and compassion.

"Hail Mary, full of grace, the lord is with thee..." She uttered, her eyes staring at the psychotic look that the matriarch of the Kravinoff had on her face. She could see just how she was enjoying killing her, killing those that were just like her. The fact that she was not able to accept that death had claimed her husband was more worrisome than what she actually believed. It showed her that Sasha Kravinova had a problem, a serious one at that. Yet she wouldn't dare say it in the face of the woman who was about to kill her. All she could do now was keep on praying.

"Electro, now" She took the largest, and probably the last, breath she could take. She closed her eyes, not wanting to see just how the woman took the hunting knife and plunged it into her chest. She didn't want to see, all she wanted to see in her last moments was the face of the man she loved one last time. So she created such images, preferring to die while living in delusion. It was better than suffering through the entire session. And just when she prepared herself, she heard a very familiar sound through her ears.

*TWIP*

"Mattie!" She gasped in shock, her eyes no longer being able to hold back the tears. She cried, hiccups escaping from her throat as she could only stare at Spider-Man ruthlessly defeating each villain that was around. She didn't know how to react, her heart was pounding rapidly. She was ignoring everything around her, even the crazed look that the matriarch of the Kravinoff was sending at the arachnid. She had been able to see him, to see him one last time. Yet fate seems to be in constant change, what Madame Webb had told her should have passed by now. "I'm getting you out of here!"

"Yes..." She could only mutter while a smile entered her face. Even while she was still tied up, she smiled in joy. Joy at being able to accomplish her dream, to be able to keep on protecting the people close to her. Joy at being given a chance to create her own family with the man that she loved with her entire being. It was a complete surprise on her part that she had actually not gotten the strength to break through her ties with all the joy that she currently had in her heart and mind. "I love you, Spider-Man... Always will"

She consciously did not say the name of the man behind the mask. She was afraid of what the villains would do if they got their hands on such valuable information. She would never hear the end of it from her mind, always blaming herself for such a slip up. So she maintained her silence, watching carefully as the one man in her life began to save her from certain death. As soon as she was let loose of her bindings, she hugged him with all her might. She began to cry a bit stronger, letting her emotions run free. She could feel his tenderness, caring for her in the most loving ways. She hoped that she would have him for the rest of her life, because she didn't know what it would have been of her if she had never met him.