SPIDER-MAN: MARK LEE

60

𝟲𝟬: 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗔𝗖𝗧𝗨𝗔𝗟 𝗦𝗔𝗙𝗘 𝗭𝗢𝗡𝗘
𝙈𝘼𝙍𝙆 𝙇𝙀𝙀'𝙎 𝙋𝙊𝙑

I wasn't expecting for the darkness to seep into the city this quickly. But I presume it was for the best because in this way, I won't be easily spotted lurking around the residence of the Stacys. Furtively swinging around the perimeter of their mansion, I tried seeking for an active spot, attempting to search for where people were possibly hiding and awaiting for me (Well supposedly Juliane).

I was scared. I was really scared.

I didn't know what was awaiting for me. Were there gonna be a herd of men attempting to attack me? Or merely Mr. Stacy with Juliane's parents?

I should've never promised anything to Juliane.

I could feel how sore my body still was. I could sense that if I had to be faced with numerous enemies, I wouldn't stand a chance. But I'd rather have that happen, than let Juliane step a foot in here to reunite with her family and possibly meet her demise together with them. I couldn't.

I landed on the mansion's ceiling made of glass window, just right below to what seemed like a living room. A huge living room. Perched on the couches were a man and a woman, seeming anxious and frantic, and I already could tell that they were Juliane's parents. And just a few meters from them, I saw Gwen Stacy pacing around the room, seeming as frantic as the two others, with a gun on her hand.

My eyes enlarged, both by the sight of Gwen as well as the gun on her hand.

I examined the place more, not spotting anybody else around. Oddly enough, it was only the three of them. I couldn't feel any tingle too that signaled any other dangers. There was nobody here but the four of us.

This was weird.

I was expecting the three men I failed to take down yesterday, and Mr Stacy. But he wasn't here.

What was this?

There wasn't anything that told me something this situation was dangerous, so I decided to present my presence.

I swung down and jumped through the opened window, catching their attention immediately.

Mr. and Mrs. gasped in shock, but when they saw that it was one of the masked vigilante, they started expressing some profuse relief, almost crying out of joy because I surmised they had been held hostage here for a very long time. And seeing somebody else's presence was a huge relief to them.

Gwen gasped when she saw stand by the couch. "Mark..." She mumbled and took another look at the surroundings. "No... No, where's your friend?"

I was shocked to hear my own name come out of her mouth. But I was also confused about her last question. I couldn't say anything, I unfortunately froze to the words she uttered out.

And she spoke again. "Fuck... Mark, you're friend is also supposed to be here. Where is he?"

I jerked my head, confused. "Wait... What are you talking about? How do you know?"

Gwen gulped, her hands tightening around the gun she held. "I've always known." I reacted to this immediately and stood in front of Juliane's parents, who trembled in fear. I squinted my eyes at Gwen but she continued talking. "Look... Mark, I never wanted to do this okay?"

I held my hands up, showing that I wasn't gonna do anything to her, a sign for her to reciprocate. "I can see that Gwen. And you don't have to do it okay? Just lower your gun, tell me everything and we can fix this together. Okay?"

Gwen's eyes started to become teary, her grip on the gun shuddering and immediately, she dropped her arms to her side. "I didn't even know that my father was involved in this, until one day he went up to and asked for a favor... And that was to get close to you. He told me he knew you're Spiderman. My dad said that you've been involving yourself too much about his business, and he wasn't happy about that. He needed my help to convince you to stay in your life as Mark Lee, and not as Spiderman. And I tried... I really did, and I thought it'd be easy because I heard... I heard you had something for me, but you didn't. You were so focused on Juliane, whom was one of my dad's main target because she's a Moon." Gwen shut her eyes, tears brimming out of her eyes. "I really tried Mark. I wanted to be closer to you and to explain everything to you... But I didn't succeed."