There are three simple rules Nellie Jenkins must follow as she orchestrates an article for the school newspaper on fellow classmate, Peter Parker.
Rule #1. Do not observe the person you are writing about outside of school grounds.
Rule #2. Do not mi...
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Nellie stood under the street lights shivering, confused as to what this Mister Negative persona wanted with either her or Peter. Nothing was making sense, but then again, Peter's life in his suit was mostly kept secret from her.
"What does any of this have to do with Spider-Man? Why did you come to my school? How did you even know I had any connection to him?" Nellie was terrified out of her mind, but also growing anxious by the second.
Questions flooded through her mind like a raging river. She couldn't comprehend what this man wanted, let alone what he was.
"You and Peter—you're children. You think you know how this world works, but you haven't the slightest idea. It's beautiful, how fragile you are. I was once like you." He watched her with lucent eyes, speaking more softly now than he had in the classroom.
Was that just an act to intimidate her or was this an act to make her less afraid? She couldn't tell.
She sucked in a breath, her palms sweating despite the low temperature.
"Answer my question, please," she tried strengthening her voice to mask her fear.
Her nerves were shot, her mind racing.
Mister Negative shook his head, his lips forming a tight line as he stared at her.
"Your friend Peter has connections to powerful people. He's in affiliation, in fact, with the Avengers, to an extent. Or so I hear."
Nellie arched a brow, "I don't know anything about them. I just know Peter. He comes to school every day and stays out of the fights." She partially lied, hoping this would make him back off.
"You sweet, stupid girl," He grinned a bit, as sinister as before. "Spider-Man has already stood in my way once before. It's better if you don't lie to me anymore."
She clenched her jaw, now realizing this must have been the man Peter was talking about right before he left Homecoming.
Mister Negative was the bad guy who got away.
"You said you want your life back. How is Peter supposed to fix that?" The bitter breeze nipped her nose, her cheeks burning from the cold.
Negative looked down at his hands, one with the electrical aura illuminating around it. He fixated his gaze on that hand, flexing his fingers and clenching his fist repeatedly.
"First, I wanted to kill the man who turned me into this—this monster. But then, Spider-Man showed up. Seeing him," He turned his hand over, his palm facing the sky. "It was a reminder of a time before I was this chaotic storm of a person."
"I don't understand," Nellie shook her head, folding her arms over her chest to warm herself.
Negative's nostrils flared, "Your friend has direct connections to Nick Fury."
She blinked a few times, shaking her head again, "No, no I have never heard him say that name before."
"Tony Stark. What about that name? Sound familiar?" His tone grew more hostile.
Nellie's eyes widened, her heart rate yet again increasing.
Negative's lips curled up, "Bingo."
Her entire body flinched as her phone rang from her small clutch that hung across her body. She quickly pulled it out, but Negative grabbed it in a heartbeat. His white-hot eyes found the screen.
PETER flashed across the screen along with a picture of him she'd taken while they'd been studying one day.
"Tell him exactly what I say," Negative swiped his glowing thumb across the screen and shoved the phone to Nellie's face.
Now, she could feel heat radiating from his hands that she didn't feel before. It was as if he was becoming overheated with anger.
"Hello?" She choked out, her eyes on Negative.
His hand still held the phone forcefully against her cheek.
"I'm on my way back to Homecoming, Nells. Everything is okay. Mr. Stark said it was a false alarm." Peter's voice sounded like music to her ears.
She moved her lips to speak but no words came out as Negative shook his head.
"Tell him to meet you on Queensboro Bridge," Negative instructed.
Nellie swallowed hard, feeling as if her blood was rushing out of her body.
"Can you meet us on Queensboro Bridge?" She asked him, watching as Negative gritted his teeth.
She slipped up.
"Who is us?" Peter chuckled over the phone.
Nellie didn't speak. She was too afraid.
Negative ripped the phone away from her and held it to his lips, "If you're not at the bridge in ten minutes, I'm throwing your friend off of it with her hands and feet bound together." He growled firmly into the phone before throwing it on the concrete outside of the school.
Nellie's stomach dropped, "No, no! You said you weren't going to hurt me. Please, no!"
He wrapped his arm around her neck and held his scalding hand inches away from her face, dragging her over to a car parked on the side of the road.
"I said I didn't want to hurt you, but if I have to, I will. You are a small price to pay if it means becoming myself again."
She tried fighting him, but it was no use. She knew whatever powers he possessed would be stronger than her hardest punches or loudest screams.
Nellie's only hope was Peter, ironically. And knowing him was the reason she was in this mess in the first place.
