Arachnophobia ⇒ Peter Parker

thirty four: avengers assemble

     Peter's face dropped. He peered at Rose with a blank expression and she reciprocated. The seconds before Peter processed what Rose had said were fleeting, but they were the end of something truly beautiful. To say that their relationship would ever remain unchanged was unrealistic. What preceded went slowly. He blinked rapidly, shook his head, and then gaped at her again. Tears pooled up in his eyes. His breath had quickened and become loud. His eyes ran down to her scorpion carving. Had she received it in some sick initiation to Isaac's cult? Was everything they had a lie?

     He thought back to each memory they had together. He thought of every strange phone call, every hidden text, every concealed action. He thought back to his time at the alleyway. He thought back to every time that she had acted oblivious to the fact that he was Spiderman. Lastly, he thought of every precious moment they had had together. He remembered the night that they walked home from school together after they had first met and all the times that they had lost their breath in deep laughter.

     "It was all a lie?" His first kiss had been a lie. His first love had been a lie. And here was the person he thought to be the love of his life, smiling smugly. For a brief moment, he wished that he could just be normal, that he didn't have to deal with villains and enemies. But he knew that that wasn't the case. Rose was laughing at his heartbreak. She may as well have spit on him. After all, he was just dirt under her shoes.

     But inside, I was breaking. Feed off his misery. Isaac had said it so blindly as if he were ordered me on a coffee run. Of course, he would say that. He had treated me so heartlessly. And now, Peter was all that I had. For all I knew, Isaac had murdered all of my family. The Avengers would toss me aside after they retrieved Peter. I had no one. I never would.

     Suddenly, a man rushed into the interrogation room. He addressed Isaac and said, "They've arrived, sir."

     This was when I took my cue to tackle Isaac. Tony had advised me that once they had arrived, I should try to hold back Isaac for as long as possible. For once, Isaac was collapsed on the ground and I straddled valiantly over him. I allowed one arm to hold down his struggling body and in the other, my fingers grasped his throat. Adrenaline pumped through my veins and I smiled wildly. For the first time, I could finally inflict pain on a man that had hurt me every single day in past months. I hadn't thought out the plan completely, however, seeing as thirty seconds went by and I realized that I wouldn't be able to hold him off for much longer. I had experience in boxing, sure, but Isaac was muscular and almost as skilled as I was. I decided to stall him by holding a conversation.

     I spoke to him in a venomous tone, saying, "When did you kill them? When did you kill my family?"

     "I didn't kill them, Rose. I swear I--," I tightened her grip around his neck and stared him with a more profound glare, probing him on to say, "The night I kidnapped you."

     I wasn't thinking about the response that I would receive when asking my question. I hadn't even thought of that night as a possibility. Sadly enough, I even had a small shred of hope that they were still alive. But to think, he had killed my family the night he kidnapped me. I was fighting for nothing that whole time. I was fighting for the life of a dead person. I inflicted pain on the one person I loved in an attempt to keep some blind promise. I was this story's villain.

     I loosened my grip on him. His words had made feel weak. I felt as though I had no power over him. I felt as though I had no power over myself. I let my grip falter and Isaac pushed me aside. He walked forward towards the door and I simply stared upwards, completely maimed by the information that he had just given me.

      My family was dead. The woman that had raised me was no longer alive and my sweet sister had lost her life to one of Isaac's sick games. I wasn't able to process that fact. I finally looked back up but it was too late, the door shut behind him. I was left alone with...

      Peter. I had completely forgotten that he was still here. I reached beneath my hoodie and took out Peter's mask. Tony had given it to me before I left, and I hid it in the one place Isaac wouldn't dare check. I threw it over to Peter. He glanced viciously at me and then moved his bound hands upwards, sliding it over his brown curls. The Spiderman suit spread over his body and he ripped the chains open easily. He stood up and pushed back his shoulders.

     He took his mask back off and narrowed his eyes at me. He slid forward and grabbed my left arm. He twisted it and flipped me around. Once I hit the ground I tumbled backward and jumped back up. I pushed my sleeves up. It seemed as though Peter was forgetting that I knew how to put up a fight. I kicked him at his side and he stumbled backward. I took this as my chance to speak to him.

     "There's more to what I told you earlier. We don't have time to fight. Isaac's the real enemy," I sputtered out in between punches. He threw his fist forward and it collided with my jaw. While falling backward, I rolled my eyes. Could Peter not put his emotions aside and be reasonable for once?

    I reached forward both my hands and placed them on his shoulders. I pushed him against the wall. He struggled beneath my grasp. He was clearly losing. He reached his hand upwards and shot a web into my chest. Up until that moment, he was abstaining from using his powers. Now, he didn't hold back. He jumped up to the wall and came back down, pushing me to the ground. He raised his arm and smashed his fist down onto my chest.

     Blood oozed out from my mouth as I coughed and my head throbbed. Pain seared throughout my body. Good thing I was one to tolerate pain.

     I reached my arm up and grabbed his neck, pulling him off me and slamming him to the ground beside me. He simply reached his arm upwards and raised himself to the wall with me still attached. I let out a shrill yell as I eyed the ground. I was ten feet from the ground. How was I possibly going to get down? I grasped onto Peter's hips. He had completely lost it. I allowed my arms to trail down to his feet until my body was five feet from the ground. I let go and fell, but I landed incorrectly. A loud popping sounds emerged as my ankle popped.

     "What the hell happened here? Peter, get down here!" A weight was lifted off my shoulder as Wanda entered the room. She surveyed my ankle and gasped. She drew a circle with her hands and a light red flame emerged. The fire was a clear sheet of light crimson and it dangled in between her fingers as if they were strung to a puppet. She directly the flame forward onto my body as the pain dissolved significantly, specifically easing around my angle.

      Wanda grasped my hand and lifted me up. She turned over to Peter and took him by his arm. He shrunk beneath her intense grip and she yanked him over. She led us throughout the halls. Peter still had fire burning in his eyes. His glare was one of pure disgust.

      He was furious. I had never invoked such emotions in anyone, and I had never seen him so angry. It terrified me to see such a kind and loving boy turn to such a dark nature. He then mouthed two sentences that will never fail to shake me to my core. I strained to understand what he was saying. That was what he wanted. He wanted me to forever have the visual image of him making a promise that he would never forget.

      "You got lucky. I will be the one murder you."