State of the HeartWritten By: |
Mary-Jane Watson Parker gave an apple to the goblin that was the doorman of her hotel in Greenwich, London. The beautiful super-model walked into the main lobby of the hotel and politely smiled at the pixies that were flying around her as they magically opened the transportation portal that had replaced the long defunct elevator. They giggled and tittered as she stepped through the portal and was instantly magically teleported into the suite that had been her home for almost a year. She slipped off her long black coat and let it fall to the floor.
The first thing she did was to check on Anna to make sure she was sleeping. Mary-Jane was relieved to find out that she was. Mary-Jane knew that she needed to unwind before Anna picked up on her mood. The last thing she wanted was to upset her. She poured herself a gin and tonic, and collapsed on her couch. As she tried to relax, her thoughts drifted to the man who never seemed far from her even though they had never been so far apart.
Peter Parker.
To the world he was better known as the Amazing Spider-Man, but to him he was a far more important hero. He was her husband, and being apart from him was breaking her heart more and more each day.
Why had she taken that stupid fashion job? It had only been intended to last ten days - a photoshoot for Burberry by one of England's top fashion photographers. She would have been the global face of Burberry - a big money job that would have replenished her savings account sufficiently for her and Peter to afford the down-payment on an apartment. How could they have known that the world was about to turn insane? She had been speaking to Peter on the telephone when the magical barrier had separated Europe from the rest of the world. They had been cut off in mid-conversation without any warning, and she had not been able to make any contact with him since. She had never even got a chance to tell him that she loved him.
She had spent three months trying every possible escape route from Europe that she had been able to think of. She had even wasted almost every cent she had left by buying a "magical charm" that supposed to allow her to pass through the barrier safely. All she had ended up with was a huge headache when she had attempted to walk through the Barrier and instead was thrown twenty feet through the air back to the prison that Europe had become. Desperate, she had ended up back in the Burberry offices, and to her amazement had been offered her original contract back, despite her changed circumstances. With magic and change everywhere people looked, Europe was desperate for anything that reminded them of the relative stability of life before the Barrier. The established Burberry brand was more popular than it had ever been among those who still had the cash to afford it. Her circumstances had meant that she had been unable to work much for the first seven months, but over the last four months she had established herself as the new face of the brand in these changing times. As the old saying went, she was literally big in Europe. She had never been so successful.
It had just cost her her husband to achieve it.
She took another sip from her drink, and then angrily threw it against the fireplace in her suite. It shattered into pieces, but within seconds there was a knock on her door and a troll had appeared to clean it up. The post-Barrier London had one again become the home to many magical creatures that had walked freely thousands of years ago. Some of them had looked for gainful employment, and the business-savvy management teams of many companies were beginning to take advantage of that.
Mary-Jane apologized to the troll for creating work for it, and grabbed her coat to walk the streets of London. It was a mistake to come back to the hotel after her photo-shoot. She needed to decompress as much as possible. She needed to breathe.
She walked for half an hour, before flagging down a carriage that was being led by a winged unicorn. She paid the cabbie ten silver coins and he flew her into the center of London. In another life she would have been thrilled by the experience, but she was too aware of what she had lost to be able to take any enjoyment from it. It never even occurred to her that it might be the last thing she ever did.
A sword flew through the air and decapitated the unicorn while the carriage was landing near Trafalgar square. It crashed to the ground, bruising her but not seriously injuring her. She tried to pull herself together and get away from whatever it was that was attacking her, but it was too late. She opened her eyes to see the unicorn’s driver staring at her. Word from the carriage had been driven into the back of his skull, and a centaur dressed in black leather was standing over her. Her heart dropped as she saw it look at her, but after consideration it merely grunted at her and started sawing off the unicorn’s horn.
“This will get me a fair penny,” he told her, pleased with his handiwork.
Mary-Jane slowly started backing away, thinking only of getting back to Anna, but she froze when the gorgon pointed his sword at her.
“I don’t remember telling ya I was finished with ya,” it threatened her.
“Then you’re very impolite,” she heard a male voice tell the centaur, as a burst of flame came from the sky and landed between Mary-Jane and the centaur. She looked up to see an old man floating in the sky, wearing a bright yellow costume and surrounded by fire. Mary-Jane recognized him from the newspapers. He was Captain Kerosene, a British war hero who had emerged from retirement to join the Pendragons in defending Great Britain from all threats.
“I suggest you run, Miss,” the Captain told her, as he effortlessly melted the sword that the Centaur threw at him.
Mary-Jane took his advice and ran, thinking of her family. Anna needed her, and she had to see Peter again. She refused to die while they were apart, and she would not leave Anna alone in this strange dangerous world.
She ran for twenty minutes, past the concerned crowds of people and creatures who wondered what had her visibly upset, until she collapsed against a wall in an alley a mile away from where she had been attacked. Anna. She had to get back to Anna. But first she had to throw up every thing that was in her stomach.
“Are you okay?”
Mary-Jane looked up from where she was vomiting to see a young man with long dark hair, golden armor, and a large sword standing at the entrance to the alley way. For a moment she thought that he must be connected to her attacker, but then she recognized him as the Pendragon called Adam Crown. Peter had met him once and said good things about him. At that moment she was just delighted to see a friendly face.
“I was… attacked…” she muttered, out of breath.
“I know,” Adam told her, offering her his hand. “Captain Kerosene told me so I came looking for you to make sure you were okay. That thing won’t be bothering any one again.”
Mary-Jane nodded, happy to believe him and glad not to have the full details of whatever had occurred. “Thank you…”
“Not a problem. You’re obviously shaken up. Can we take you any where?”
Mary-Jane told him the name of the hotel she had been living in for the past six months.
“Nice place,” Adam smiled. “I worked there one summer when I was a student.”
“I’d pay every penny I own if I could find a way home,” Mary-Jane told him truthfully.
“It must be difficult,” Adam consoled her, leading her out of the alleyway to the street. “You must have faith that some day we will find a way.”
“I do, because I have to be strong. There’s not just me to think about,” Mary-Jane answered, as Adam walked her back to her hotel.
She thanked him when they arrived, and she hurried up to her suite where Anna was waiting for her. She relieved the Nanny and took her five month old daughter in her arms. “It’s okay, Anna,” she soothed her child. “Mommy’s here. Mommy’s here. And Daddy will be here too… some day…”
Author's Notes
Big thanks go out to Gary Halpin, for pitching in and writing this issue's story. It's a great idea and one that I'm really pleased that Gary came up with -- I recommend that everyone check out his other fanfic work, as well -- including one of my faves at the moment, Avengers 2000's Avengers West Coast series.
I originally planned to run a Dark Guard story in this issue but things conspired against that. The Dark Guard tale is still in the works though and will appear in a future issue, possibly as early as # 3.
Keep in touch,
Barry Reese
