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Spider-Man Mayham (AU) Chapter 316: Forced to Rest
🕑 Added 2025-06-11 14:59:38 +0000 UTC[Third Person's PoV]
Harry just stared at Peter with a deadpan expression, his lips pressed into a thin line as he stood completely still.
Peter blinked and tilted his head, raising an eyebrow. “What?”
Harry sighed dramatically, wincing as he shifted his weight. “I’m in way too much pain to fully articulate how lame that last line was… Also, you stole my kill.”
Peter scoffed, rolling his eyes as he took a shaky step forward. His legs trembled with each movement, the toll of the battle becoming more evident. “I didn’t steal anything. If anything, you were just too slow to take it yourself.”
Harry gave a low chuckle, which quickly turned into a groan. “I see you’ve also been impacted by the hellfire,” he muttered, his voice strained. He took a deep, shaky breath and winced again.
“This is the last mission I ever go on with you,” Peter whined, hobbling closer until he was within arm’s reach.
“Yeah, well… at least now we understand why the Ancient One left this task to us instead of assigning literally anyone else,” Harry said wearily, leaning against Peter as they braced each other for support.
Peter gave him a long, accusatory glance. “Is this why you didn’t invite Firestar? Because you somehow knew this was going to turn into a literal nightmare?”
“No,” Harry grumbled, his voice still tight from the pain. “I just wanted to hang out with my bro… Who knew it’d turn into a flaming descent into actual hell?”
“A warning from the Ancient One would’ve been nice,” Peter muttered. “Something like, ‘Hey, you’re about to experience eternal torment firsthand. Don’t forget sunscreen.’”
“Maybe she didn’t tell us on purpose,” Harry said uncertainly, his features twisted into a grimace. The pain etched lines into his face, and a pulsing vein throbbed visibly at his temple.
Peter glanced at him, guilt clouding his eyes. “Yeah… Not to mention it's my fault I got injured in the first place. I got overconfident.”
Harry gave a pained smile—or at least attempted one. “You? Overconfident? Shocking.”
“Come on, it was the Vulture,” Peter said with a forced laugh. “How could I not underestimate the guy?” But then his voice dropped, and a heavy silence followed.
Harry caught the shift. “What is it?”
Peter sighed heavily. “No matter what kind of person the Vulture was… he didn’t deserve to die like that. It was brutal. Unnecessary.”
Harry didn’t have a clever remark for once. He just patted Peter’s back gently. “Come on. We still need to make sure the rest of those cultists don’t slip away. We kinda left them completely unsupervised.”
Peter groaned. “I’m in way too much pain to deal with more cultists right now.”
“Oh, don’t worry about that,” came Aria’s voice, crystal-clear and confident through the comms. “I dispatched a few Spider-Bots to keep them detained. They're all secured. And if any of them twitched even a little, I zapped them until twitching was no longer an option.”
Peter nearly collapsed in relief. He reached out toward the air as if trying to hug her voice. “Aria, I love you.”
In response, a swirling portal opened before them. Through it, they could see the desecrated remains of the graveyard, and in the center: cultists, tied up in neat rows and surrounded by glowing, alert Spider-Bots.
As they stepped through the portal, Aria’s giggle followed them.
Peter scanned the scene before frowning. “What do we do with the girl’s body?” he asked quietly, pointing toward the lifeless form crumpled near a shattered tombstone.
“I’ll take care of it,” Aria said. “I’ve already contacted the appropriate authorities. I’ll make sure the right people recover her body respectfully and without delay.”
Peter hesitated. “Still feels wrong to just leave her there like that…”
“You’ve done your part,” Aria reassured gently. “Now leave the clean-up to me. That’s what I’m here for, remember? Not to mention everyone is waiting for you with the Ancient One”
“Wait—what do you mean everyone is with the Ancient One?” Harry suddenly asked, a look of disbelief crossing his face.
“I contacted them right after you finished the fight,” Aria replied matter-of-factly. “Told them what happened. They’re already at the Sanctum waiting.”
“Damn it,” both Peter and Harry muttered in perfect sync.
“Fine… We’ll leave it to you,” Peter relented, shooting a web toward one of the still-bound cultists.
Harry opened another portal, the golden energy humming as it widened, revealing the Ancient One’s Sanctum beyond. Peter dragged the cultist through, leaving the graveyard behind them.
immediately stopped in his tracks.
Everyone was waiting for him.
They stood in a wide semicircle, arms crossed, staring at him with expressions that ranged from stern disapproval to quiet concern. Even Aria, now in her small humanoid form, was mimicking their glares with surprising accuracy, her tiny arms folded, eyes narrowed.
“Hello every—” Peter began, giving a small, sheepish wave.
But he was cut off by a sudden, awful sound.
MJ let out a choking noise and collapsed to her knees. Her eyes widened in panic as she clutched her chest, her mouth opening in a silent scream. Her body trembled violently, she started to convulse, tears welled up at the corners of her eyes before rolling down her cheeks. Then her eyes rolled back, and she slumped forward.
The Ancient One let out a long, tired sigh and flicked her wrist. A metal bin shimmered into existence beside MJ. The girl, still shaking, grabbed it and vomited into it without warning.
“What the fuck—” Felicia blurted out, unable to mask her shock.
The Ancient One remained calm, adjusting Harry’s still-open portal with a gentle movement of her fingers. The glowing ring shifted, passing through the bound cultists and whisking them away. “I’ve sent them to Wong for holding,” she said.
“That’s not what we care about right now!” Gwen shouted, panic in her voice as she dropped to MJ’s side. “What’s happening to her?!”
“She looks like she’s being possessed,” Lizzy added, eyes wide with concern.
Still expressionless, the Ancient One conjured a small golden sigil at the tip of her finger and shot it toward MJ’s forehead. It shimmered like burning wax, then embedded itself into her skin before slowly fading.
MJ jerked, then began gasping, desperately pulling in air between dry heaves. She held onto the bin like a lifeline, spitting into it as her body trembled.
“What she was experiencing,” the Ancient One said calmly, “was a fraction of Mr. Parker’s pain. He tried to shield it using mental techniques, but some of it still leaked into her through their emotional connection. For her, it was… overwhelming.”
MJ’s head slowly lifted. Her eyes were half-lidded, wet with tears. She looked at Peter, her voice barely above a whisper.
“Tiger… How… how are you still standing?”
Peter didn’t respond right away. He took a breath, then slowly deactivated his suit. The armor retracted to reveal his worn, battered body. Faint scars lined his torso, and his skin had a slightly ashen, burned tone. Dark circles sat beneath his eyes, which were hollow and dull. There was pain in his gaze—pain that no words could express.
“Honestly, Red… I’m barely holding it together,” he said quietly.
Gwen and Lizzy both didn't hesitate to walk over towards them with urgency. They rubbed their faces, overwhelmed by the sight. Even the comforting gesture of caressing their faces felt like salt in a wound.
“Why didn’t you call for backup?” Gwen snapped, turning back toward him, her voice breaking. “We would’ve been there! We would’ve helped!”
Peter shook his head. “It wasn’t supposed to be that kind of mission. This whole thing… It happened because I got arrogant. I underestimated the threat. This is the result of my own mistakes.”
Felicia looked toward the Ancient One. “Is there anything you can do for them?”
The Ancient One’s expression softened slightly. “I’m afraid not. This damage isn’t physical—it’s spiritual. Their very essence has been burned. To truly restore them, we would need something like the Soul Stone.”
“Fantastic,” Felicia muttered bitterly. “We’ve got the Mind Stone and the Time Stone, but not the one we actually need.”
Lizzy turned toward the Ancient One, brows furrowed. “Can’t you use the Time Stone to rewind them? Or maybe fast-forward their recovery?”
“No,” the Ancient One said, shaking her head. “Their souls are in an extremely fragile state. Any interference, even a minor one, could shatter them completely. I will not take that risk.”
Seeing the disappointment in their faces, she raised a hand in reassurance. “But you have nothing to fear. It will heal—just slowly. Hellfire is one of the most dangerous mystic flames, but it’s also deeply judgmental. It burns the wicked more than the pure. The fact that they survived with their souls intact is proof of their inner strength. In truth, they were lucky.”
Peter raised a hand weakly. “So, Doc… give it to me straight. How long do I have left?”
The Ancient One rolled her eyes. “You’re not dying, Mr. Parker. Stop being so dramatic. You just need to rest. A week should suffice.”
“We have to suffer like this for a week?!” Harry exclaimed in disbelief, “OH man just kill me now and we have to deal with Kraven—!”
“Absolutely not!” Gwen said with a serious expression, “You will be resting!”
“Baby, as much as I love you—” Peter began.
But he didn't get to finish, Gwen put a finger over his lip, “If you truly loved me as much as you say you do, you'd rest. I know you have your pride Peter, thinking you need to take care of everything yourself, but you keep on forgetting you have us with you for a reason. We didn't choose this path just to sit on the sidelines and solve minor crimes here and there. We're not your cheerleaders”
“Preach sister!!” Felicia exclaimed as a background character.
Peter didn't really know how to retort and just said, “But this is Kraven we're talking about…”
“There's also the fantastic four, who we can ask for assistance… When one of us is injured and needs rest, you can rest assured that everyone else is taking care of everything that needs to be done. So when I say you're going to rest, that means you're going to rest, do I make myself clear?”
Peter sighed as his head dropped, “God you're so unbelievably attractive when you order me around…”
The Ancient One merely facepalm.
“Fine… I'll rest, so I'm leaving Kraven to you guys, but be warned… It seems he's preparing for war.” Peter said with a serious expression.
Gwen nodded, “Just leave it to us”
…
A few minutes later…
After everything was over and Peter was ordered to rest he just couldn't sit still. He was in too much pain and had too much in his mind to quiet his thoughts.
So he decided to take a little walk and clear his head.
Peter chose to rest by himself with no one around, he just walked casually through a park, his mind still replaying the scene of the Vulture, constantly wondering what difference he could have made.
Peter sat down on a bench, as kids in front of him ran around playing with each, he stared at the pond and watched as the water rippled in the wind.
He was leaning forwards, his arms over his knees, his mind deep in thought, ‘I should have used Astral projection and then maybe I could have saved his soul… Or maybe I could have done a better and thorough search of all of my rogues, if I knew the Vulture was faking his death I could have stopped him from delving into the occult and his soul wouldn't have gotten… There can't be a repeat I have to be more methodical about this’
Peter had his fist clenched, his eyes narrowed.
“You know Peter, I thought those girls of yours told you to rest, not to keep planning your next steps. That is not resting my boy”
Peter paused as he saw an ice cream cone before his eyes.
Peter blinked repeatedly as he slowly turned his head, he hadn't felt anyone walk right by him, he knew he was in great pain but that didn't mean he was unguarded. His spider-senses didn't pick up anyone, and they still don't.
Not to mention, it sounded like the voice knew what Peter was thinking.
Peter’s eyes nearly popped straight out of his face, his breathing hitched, as his mouth slowly hung open.
And beside him was none other than Stan fucking Lee.
Comments
KingSpy25i .
The man! The Myth! THE LEGEND!!! STAN LEE! 🫡🫡🫡 R.I.P. Thank you for the great chapter 🙏
Bryan Vargas
Si, crazy right?
Uzi_Uzumaki
IS THAT THE ONE ABOVE ALL?????
Green223
RIP Stan Lee you are missed
