Love Song | p. parker (BEING EDITED)

3 | We Can Mend

"Soulmate map, get your own personalized soulmate map!"

You glanced down at your phone for the address again, passing the carts and stands that sold soulmate aids, as usual.

"You there, miss! Do you have a soulmate?" One of the vendors was pointing at you. "Take our highly accredited soulmate evaluation and get an outline for who you're looking for!"

You ignored the man, looking around for your next turn.

You were on your way to the pizzaria Peter had mentioned a few days ago. You needed a job and the manager who'd answered your call had invited you to stop by and apply.

The sun was shining weakly through the chilly October air as you crossed street after street, going over responses to interview questions in your head.

What was your work experience? How well did you work with people? What makes you different from other people they could hire?

You took another turn and kept walking. A breeze picked up and you pulled your jacket tighter around yourself.

After following the GPS for another few minutes, you realized you were on a street you'd never seen before. There were fewer people here, fewer shops and restaurants.

Nothing to worry about, you thought, plenty of streets were less busy than average.

But after another minute of walking, you felt as though something were not quite right. You were alone on the sidewalk now, the street rapidly shrinking in width.

You took your headphones out and glanced up and down the street. Had you misread the GPS?

The line on your map confirmed you were heading in the right direction, but it still made you uneasy.

Senses on high alert now, you jumped when you suddenly heard someone yell, "Are we ready!"

A roar of cheers and yelling responded.

You turned all around, searching for the source, extremely apprehensive. Finally you caught sight of an opening under the overpass you were walking by. You thought the sound was coming from that direction.

It was ahead on your left, you would pass it on your way. You decided to walk quickly by and keep your head down, but what you saw as you glanced inside made you freeze in place.

Crowds of people were packed into the space beneath the overpass. You saw many of them dressed in blue and holding signs. Was it a protest?

A makeshift stage had been erected in the back. People were standing on it talking into microphones and stirring up the crowd. You scanned the group, trying to discern what sort of gathering this was, when your feet went cold. The signs hanging behind the stage read: THE CORE

You stumbled back. The Core?

"We will not be held to these rules!" Shouted the speaker on stage.

"Freedom to choose your partner!" Someone else roared.

A resounding cry of assent from the crowd followed these pronouncements.

You remembered seeing this group on the news a few days ago. You had to leave, being associated with a deserter group was not something you wanted to be caught up in.

But just as you were about to turn away, your gaze fell upon someone you knew. You blinked hard. It couldn't be.

Up on the stage, holding a sign and wearing a blue shirt.

"No..." You breathed.

It was MJ.

You felt frozen. What did this mean? Did she not accept soulmates? But you thought she and Peter were soulmates. What was going on?

A huge explosion of sound made you duck, throwing your hands above your head.

People yelled out, confused as what sounded like the overpass above was hit by something enormous.

You glanced around and saw that giant cracks had appeared in the ceiling. Cement dust was raining down on everyone.

What was happening?

Then screams drew your gaze to the stage where a figure had appeared, kicking everyone there to the ground. He was throwing objects into the crowd. They smoked and released purple fog. Everyone was yelling, trying to get away from the figure.

It was time to leave. You turned on your heel but suddenly you felt something pull hard on you from behind. You lost your balance and fell backward, into the overpass cavern. You landed hard on your back, the wind knocked out of you. What had grabbed you?

You rolled over to push yourself up when a hoard of trampling legs and feet seemed to collide into you. Blue clad protesters were running toward the gap you'd fallen through, and they didn't seem to care who they stepped on.

You cried out as heavy shoes crushed your fingers, bruised your thighs, and pulled at your hair.

Coughing from the dirt and dust, you felt another pull— like a magnet— drag you backwards again, towards the center of the overpass cavern.

You rolled and slid over the ground. In glancing wildly around you noticed the same phenomenon was happening to everyone else too. Something was pulling everyone in.

You slid to a stop and scrambled, trying to push yourself to your feet when a loud and harsh voice rang out.

"You think you get to choose your love? Well, think again, you miserable scum!"

You flinched at the sheer volume of his voice. Covering your ears you stood up and looked around for the exit.

A flash of movement caught your attention in the corner of your eye. Before the dangerous figure could do anything else, you saw a red and blue clad personage collide right into him and kick him off the stage.

You felt relief spill into your stomach. Spider-Man was here.

But then dread joined the relief. Anywhere Spider-Man needed to save the day was somewhere you didn't want to be.

Your eyes locked onto the exit and you sprinted towards it.

Just as you were about to reach it, a chunk of cement fell from out of nowhere to block the gap you needed to get through.

And then the dark figure was there, ducking around the rock of cement, dodging Spider-Man's webs.

You skidded to a halt before you could crash into the chunk, intending to swerve and find another exit, when you felt something grab your wrist.

"What-" You turned to jerk away.

Spider-Man had his hand on your arm.

With impossible strength, he jumped up towards the ceiling, still holding your arm. You screamed as you were lifted into the air.

The figure shot something towards where you had been a second before.

Spider-Man clung to the ceiling and pulled you up closer to him so he could hold your waist.

"I'm sorry Miss," he grunted, "let me get you somewhere safe!"

A purple smoke bomb flew past the two of you and stuck to the cement ceiling. Spider-Man dodged it, taking you with him.

You clung to his shoulders and neck, utterly terrified and out of your mind.

Spider-Man dropped to the ground when you were both out of the underpass. He let you go and quickly turned to jump back into the fight.

"Thank you–" you gasped, hands on your knees, your body shaking with adrenaline.

"Get out of here!" Spider-Man called as he swung back into the fray.

You didn't need telling twice. Even though you were bruised and bleeding, you picked yourself up and ran.