Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man Vol. 2

Chapter 26

"M.J!"

Mary Jane didn't slow down right away, her mind still reeling after what she'd just seen. After a moment though, she came to a stop, taking a moment to compose herself. She sniffed hard, trying desperately to hold back the floodgates of her eyes that were threatening to burst with tears at any moment.

"How did that happen?" she questioned as she finally turned to Peter, her tone soft but angry. She hoped it didn't come off as accusatory towards him, but thankfully her boyfriend didn't seem to take it as such as he answered.

"He told me a few weeks ago that he was meeting with his dad; I was never able to track him down after that until... the Goblin clearly injected him with at least a variation of the same formula that gave him his powers, and who knows what else he did to his mind."

M.J. stepped back, folding her hands over her nostrils at the tears and emotions were becoming harder to hold back now. Things had been a nightmare already even just tonight, but this was too much.

"Hey," Peter said, placing his hands on her shoulders. "Look at me. We're going to save him, okay? I promise."

"I know we are," Mary Jane conceded. "It's just that... Harry's innocent in all this. If it wasn't for the monster his father was... I just really didn't need this right now, not after what happened in getting here."

"What do you mean?" Peter questioned. "And where's Mr. Fireheart? Did something happen?"

M.J. glanced up at him, and it was clear by his reaction that he'd deduced the gist of it.

"At least he was at peace, I guess," she interjected. "He saved mine and Deb's lives; he said he felt he'd finally paid you back for saving his life, and, trying to kill you before, I guess."

Her words only seemed to serve as a mild consolation to him, with Peter shutting his eyes, seemingly taking a moment to process everything. Finally, he let out a breath.

"Alright. Enough people have died because of him. We're going to get a cure using Harry's blood, we're going to cure him and everyone else, and we're going to put this to an end."

"Yeah," Mary Jane said. "That sounds pretty good to me."

"Thanks for getting Deb, by the way," Peter added. "She'll be a big help."

"Anything to take a load off your shoulders right now," Mary Jane replied. "How are you holding up?"

"Eh, been better, been worse," Peter said. His words were clearly intended to assure her, but she could see on his face how worn out he was, perhaps emotionally even more than physically. She opted to roll with things though; she was more than okay with not dwelling on all the recent tragedy.

"We better get back there," M.J. spoke up. "Deb might need a little more instruction on what's needed."

"Right," Peter replied, and she followed him promptly back into the lab, finding Debra checking up on some stuff before returning her attention to them.

"Hey," she said, trying and failing to hide the shock of seeing her coworker as a superhero.

"I know, it's a lot," Peter said. "Hopefully when all this is over, we'll have plenty of time for Q&A, but right now, I could use your help."

"Right, of course," Deb replied. "Mary Jane said something about making an antiserum?"

"I already got a blood sample from him," Peter explained, gesturing over to Harry. "I was about to start analyzing it myself to hopefully get a head start for us, but basically..."

"...we need to isolate the compounds that are giving him his enhanced speed and strength and figure out how to neutralize them," Deb finished for him.

"Exactly," Peter replied, not missing a beat. For her part, Mary Jane hadn't understood most of what Deb especially had just said, but it did serve as a relief to know that the two brainiacs in the room were on the same page.