Hey everyone, so Kelly and I were sent some lovely fan fiction on Make Mine Mayday, and it was entirely too long to read on air. So enjoy this!
-Zach
Written By: Professor Enscanor
Characters based upon Marvel’s Earth-982
April never truly felt like she belonged. Robbed of a life that another lived. Used by the man who
tortured her family for years. Living with her own double under the roof of parents who saw her
as nothing more than a nuisance. The poor girl had it rough, to say the least. When mother’s day
rolled around she was scared, almost. Not knowing if her own mother would even dare set eyes
on her for all that she has done.
It wasn’t fair! Both looked to May and Ben with caring gazes and yet she, the original, was only
ever looked upon with heavy eyes as if her very existence inflicted sleep. And yet, despite that,
a part of her wanted to be normal. A part of her wanted to give her mom something nice for
Mother’s Day. She didn’t know if it was May getting into her head or if it was something else but
regardless her mind was made up. She wanted to…no, needed to give Mary Jane Watson
Parker something good if it was the last thing she ever did. After all, Mother’s Day only comes
once a year and she had 16 years’ worth of them to make up for.
And yet she had no job or spare cash to use. The girl knew she could borrow from her sister’s
secret stash but even that felt oddly icky to her. For some reason, her usual idea of stealing
wallets from criminals didn’t attract her. Was the old lady making her soft? April would shake her
head to clear that intrusive thought. After all it didn’t matter what the case was, she needed to
get her mother a gift the right way, the Parker way if she ever wanted the woman to see her as
more than an echo.
The next morning, April would swipe the newspaper and cut out some advertisements for
jobs using her sharp symbiotic scalpel-like nails to make sure it looked like nothing was wrong.
Sure her father would probably question why the ads were missing later in the day but no one
would care for long if those intrusive things weren’t visible.
Being careful to hide the page before her folks arrived, April used her powers to fashion herself
a purse to conceal it within. No one in that house bothered to question her fashion choices
anyways so they would assume it was just a cheap decoration for attention. At least that’s what
the girl thought. Over a decade locked in a basement does wonders for your self-esteem.
Either way, it wouldn’t matter, she had everything she needed. Taking one final look at the cut
paper, her eyes began to twinkle. On the page the words “Cage Match against Diva Champion
Hailey Hogan Prize $2000 for surviving 3 minutes.” A smile would begin to creep upon her face
as she saw the prize money. With her powers, she could easily win that cash and unlike her
sister, she had no issue showing off what she could do to the world. She just needed a
costume.
She knew her mother had some spares from the Spider-shoppe but taking one would make it
criminally obvious so April decided to just head to the store itself to browse. Several outfits
caught her attention, ones with silver webbing, ones with blood-red lenses, and ones with an
exposed midriff. She would have to talk to her mother about that one. It clearly wasn’t one of
the woman’s best designs.
April would finally settle on something a little simpler. Copying one of the ones on a nearby rack
as she hid in the changing room. A deep blue balaclava formed on her head as her leather
jacket morphed into a form-fitting red sweatshirt adorned with a diagonal spider logo. Her hands
would be consumed by white sports gloves covered in blue protective plastic over her knuckles.
Dark cyan sweatpants would proceed to replace her jeans as her designer boots swapped to
simple plain black sneakers. It wasn’t the most beautiful look but it certainly was one that her
parents wouldn’t tie back to her that’s for sure. With her costume set, it was time for some real
action.
The place smelt like the rest of New York’s underground. Like a cesspool of filth and sweat. The
lights shined bright enough to where you could see people’s souls. April should have known that
a wrestling gig at an old mall wasn’t going to be the most pleasant but this seemed ridiculous.
As she was signing up for the match, she noticed a parade of women on a bench in comically
large casts. It seemed like her competition weren’t exactly bitten by a radioactive Hulk Hogan.
Either way that wasn’t her problem. She made sure to sign under an alias so as to not be
tracked. She was never the most creative, resulting in her swearing under her breath for writing
her name down as “Anna May Watson”. If her parents didn’t already catch on to what she was
doing, they certainly would once they found out her alias.
April wouldn’t have long to dwell on that however as she was escorted to the show entrance
where a large man with jet-black hair and a tacky golden jacket was standing, a mic in his hand
and sunglasses obscuring his vision. Their vision was obscured by a giant curtain.
“Ladies and Gentlemen, It looks as if none of our contestants so far have been able to handle
the Heartless terror herself! For only 3 minutes in a cage, against Haliee Hogan, the sum of
$2000 will be paid to…” The announcer lowered his glasses as he looked at April covering his
microphone as he asked. “What’s your name kid?”
“Umm Spider-ling” April blurted without much thought.
“Spider-ling? Is that the best you got?” he looked at her in confusion only receiving a nod back.
“That’s terrible.” With a heavy sigh, he brought the microphone closer to his face and continued
his speech, walking out of the entrance and towards the ring. “The sum of $2000 dollars will be
paid to the terrifying, the manic, the chaotic Wolf-Spider!” The announcer pointed behind him
causing the curtain to drop revealing the newly dubbed Wolf-Spider in her terrible costumed
glory. In her head, she was thankful for the better name.
April proceeded to strut down the ramp towards the ring, ignoring all the naysayers and dodging
the food that was being thrown at her. Upon entering the ring and blowing a kiss to the crowd,
the cage would fall once more with a loud clanking sound. She was ready for anything. As the
doors shut behind her.
“Listen here you punk, I got you for 3 minutes. You aren’t a lasting one.” the Wrestler scoffed.
“And what’s with that outfit? Did you forget your Spider-girl jammies?” The wrestler was
wearing a leotard that was black and gold. A giant H tattoo on her exposed arm, an arm
which was about the size of April’s head if not bigger from all the muscle it was packing. If she
didn’t know any better, she would have assumed it was She-hulk in tan paint.
For as much as April wanted to punch her out, she knew that ending the show early would
mean she wouldn’t be paid. So she had to make the fight look good and knock this blowhard out
on the 3-minute mark. Not a big deal when you’re as fast as a spider.
The bell rang loudly across the ever-booming shouts of the crowd. Her own heartbeat couldn’t
be heard by the deafening howls. Not that that mattered when her opponent was 6’2 and
charging at her. Within an instant, April dodged left causing Hailee to smack into the ring.
Hailee would be offered a crowbar to aid her in the match but she refused, preferring to do
things by hand. Pushing herself off, she proceeded to try and punch April. For her part, April did
try to dodge as last second as possible to make the audience think that she was getting hit.
Every 10 seconds that passed, April would land blows and dance around her target. Even if she
had never danced before, her legs naturally carried her around her foe’s fists. Her Spider-sense
didn’t even bother to trigger it. All she had to do was run down the timer and punch her enemy in
the kidney every so often.
“Two Minutes” The Announcer shouted.
Only one minute to go. April thought as she wrapped her legs around the older woman and
spun around delivering a hurricanrana for the ages. Sending the mat bouncing. Bookending it
with another kiss to the crowd as she backflipped on top of her opponent. She was going easy
on the woman for the sake of the money. A thought that only infuriated the pro wrestler even
more.
“Why won’t you take this seriously!” The woman bolted up and managed to sock April straight in
the face. The girl was stunned by the display and moved back by a few inches.
“Okay, maybe you have more fights in you than I thought. April lunged passed the woman using
her speed to run up the ropes and flip-kick the woman in the back. “Sorry but I really need the
cash and I’m not stupid enough to knock you out before the bell rings.”
The pro wrestler staggered for a second before crouching down and sweeping April’s legs. “You
were saying?” Just as the woman was about to perform her signature move, the crowd started
to shout.
“10”
“9”
“8”
April knew that this was her chance, if she could time the knock out it would be worth it. She
flipped back onto her feet and waited. Her opponent rushed in with a solid right hook.
“3”
“2”
And on that note, April delivered a quick but strong jab to the enemy’s face. Not enough to kill or
break something but enough to where she could knock out the older woman with ease just as
the crowd shouted “1”.
The bell ringing signified her victory as the announcer hopped into the ring to announce it to
everyone. About 30 minutes later she was handed $2000 back in the Announcer’s office.
“I got to say kid you did great. I haven’t seen moves like that in almost 30 years since Crusher
Hogan fought the masked marvel. But unlike you, you actually bothered to wait for the timer out as
per the ad. Quite the smart one aren’t you?” He smirked remembering the kid that beat Hailee’s
father.
“Well, it’s nothing really. I just wanted to make sure you wouldn’t con me.” She shrugged. “And
maybe I’ll give this wrestling thing a shot, it sounds fun to act on stage.”
She would cut the conversation short. She had somewhere to be and someone to please,
tomorrow was Mother’s day after all. But as she looked at the money in her purse, she began to
wonder what to give her. It was only then that she realized.
On her way out she tossed $1700 at the woman, she had fought. She didn’t need all that to give
her mom a good gift and for once she wasn’t feeling greedy enough to hold it over May’s head.
It would take her an hour to get home after purchasing the gift.
The next morning the birds were chirping, the sun was shining through the ancient glass
windows of the Parker house and the smell of greasy bacon coated the air…also smoke.
Making her way downstairs, her dark raven hair in a mess that would make Shriek scream in
disgust. April noticed who the culprit was. It was her sister trying and failing to make breakfast
as baby Benjy sat in his highchair spilling cheerios onto the floor without a care in the world.
“If you’re trying to burn the house down, maybe don’t have the burner on full blast.” She huffed,
lowering the flame for her dense sister. “Some of us are fire sensitive, you know.”
May looked back and smiled back sheepishly. “Thanks, April. Between cooking up breakfast and
feeding that little terror his breakfast, things got out of hand. I just wanted to do something nice
for Mother’s Day. I was going to ask for your help but you looked like you were having a nice
dream.”
April just rolled her eyes as she picked up the bowl her brother dropped and webbed it to the
small table attached to his chair before pouring cereal into it. “There! I can’t believe you. You
can fight Dragon guys and Skrulls but you can’t feed a baby to save your life?”
May was about to respond before she heard people walking down the stairs. “Who invited the
Human Torch, it smells like he just roasted a pig with the Fantasticar’s jets.” The voice of an
older man said as he hobbled down the stairs followed by a woman of similar age.
“Shoot!” May cursed. Even her curses were too nice for April’s taste. “I was going to bring it up
for you guys since it’s Mother’s Day.”
“Was that before or after you set the house on fire, young lady?” Her father chuckled as her
mother ruffled her hair.
“Well, in any case, it’s much appreciated. Your brother didn’t exactly give me much sleep tonight
so breakfast sounds lovely.” The matriarch of the family said as she helped May finish off the
bacon.
“I’ll be right back, mom. I have to get your present.” May rushed off to her room leaving MJ to
tend to the fire. The tension in the room grew as April was alone. Even the baby could sense
that she was a fa-…no May was fake. She had to be.
“So anyways. I got you something.” April ignored the cold dead air in the room and opened up a
cabinet. Hidden behind the cans was a small pink bag. She proceeded to pull the bag out and
hand it to Mary Jane whose green eyes lulled it over. “ I know you think I’m nothing. It a fake but I
felt it. I felt the need to do this. And before you ask I got the money legitimately this time. I couldn’t
bring myself to fake it.” The girl looked away, unable to meet the woman’s eyes as she opened
the tiny bag.
Inside was a simple locket with a picture of MJ and Peter on their wedding day. On the other
side was a photo of Benjy and May. Even if she was invisible to the family, April wanted Mary
Jane feels close to them rather than just insert herself into their lives. She honestly felt a little
nervous thinking that her mother wouldn’t accept a gift from a failed copy.
For once fate shined brightly on the Parker household as Mary Jane leaned in and kissed the
girl on the cheek before hugging her. “It’s almost perfect April.” She shouted.
“Almost?” The words choked in April’s throat. She had gone through everything and the gift still
wasn’t enough? Her thoughts were lost in a sea of emotions.
“It’s missing a picture of you. We’ll have to fix that, you’re part of the family after all.” Mary Jane
said hugging the symbiotic duplicate harder. “I love it.”
A small smile began to creep onto April’s face. A real genuine smile crossed her lips as she
returned the hug. “Happy Mother’s Day.”
