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If you asked Mary Jane Watson what the most unexpected gift she'd ever received was, a casette wouldn't even be an option.
Yet here she is with an untouched box full of them even after three days after receiving the package that was supposed to be from her Aunt Anna.
Mary Jane could have easily checked if it was from her, but given what happened she's not sure how her Aunt might react given recene... experiences.
Besides how outdated casettes are, she still has a VHS Player and even IF she wasn't BORED and CURIOUS out of her mind, she would still watch them for the sheer nostalgia ad better times they could bring.
Something she is in need of given what happened with the whole Mad Priest bent on genocide.
And then there's the fact that the man's son seemed to enjoy them which only made her more curious and not raise any red flags or questions regarding said son who she's in a relationship with despite any unexpected reveals have come so far so, yes she will watch whatever's recorded on them.
Too bad she doesn't know how much will this break her later, but turn around is fair play after all.
Going over to where she stored the box she selects one at random and goes to the VHS Playe but, before she presses the Play Button, she decided that she should go for a snack to munch on and thus she makes her way to the kitchen to make some popcorn.
As she returned she could have sworn she heard Paul screaming "Allright!"
'Huh, must be one Hell of a movie,' she thought.
Now back with a bowl of popcorn she pressed Play to see what exciting content awaited her.
"Ohhh, ohhh, AHHHH! THERE! RIGHT THERE! KEEP GIVING THE NASTY KITTY WHAT SHE DESERVES MASTER!"
SHocked would be the understatement of the Century, because here MJ she was seeing Felicia Hardy being pounded into submission. And, if the way she talked and how she acted was anythig to go by, that wasn't only foreplay.
Felicia actually being genuinely submissive, why she was sent this casette along other possible sex tapes, and what the whole sitation she just found herself in might mean were things she should contemplate.
Instead, she was glued to the screen, eyes locked on the prick that entered Felicia and how it's much bigger than ANYTHING she has seen ever, and sees that the man to which it belongs is someone she knows.
Which only makes it more surprising because Peter's wasn't that long and neither that thick.
Needless to say the way in which she recalled the times from before she was rescued from that dimmension to present was the most unusual way of finding yourself reminescing.
And then the guilt came in like a punch to the gut followed by other emotions like rage, jealousy, confusion and regret all blending into a cocktail especially prepared by the most experienced bartender that almost made MJ miss the sentence spoken in what looked like a competition of dirty talking.
Needless to say she wished she missed it only because she might have ignored what was happening in front of her eyes because of the shock.
And above all she didn't want to look at Felicia, because as stated by bi the recorded couple the notorious thief is not only pregnant, but from the looks of it close to giving birth, i.e. something she wished for so long and wished to experience - especially now after that cruel joke!
Mary Jane Watson wanted to scream, to rage, to give a few knuckle-sandwiches and use her bracelet to blast the people who currently in her opinion, mocked her, betrayed her with this FUCKING TAPE!
Instead she was transfixed to what was happening on the screen.
All that raw, passionate display had her struck in her spot and then some! It was to the extent that her nipples have hardened and she was getting wet, yet she still didn't notice. Not without being drenched and letting quite the mark if, IF she DID take notice.
What she did - somehow - take notice was that she heard the words 'Jackpot' and 'suit' and that when they were literally o the ceiling of all places and Felicia trying to trigger Peter with some more dirty talk and image combo.
Ugh, why she had to hear that comment about picking up their costumes for the rooftop date? Imagineless much?
"Is it about the original Jackpot costume?"
Just like that out of nowhere her moniker gets mentioned again only, by a different voice:Paul.
Paul? Paul! Mary Jane is gripped by anxiety and worry as an anaconda suffocates its prey.
Thoughts of trying to explain what was happening going faster than Flash at a McDonalds.
"Paul... I-I it's not wh..."
Until her mind catched up to what Paul said and the way he said it: cue anger rising.
"Wait a minute! You knew what the tape was about! About all of them for that matter?!" With how angry she was neither of them thought it could get any worse.
It did.
The former redheaded model noticed his erection rising slowly, as if he just finished. Something which further put the bespectacled man into hot water.
The boilig would come later he knows it.
"All this TIME, you knew these were sex tapes and instead of doing the responsible thing and tell me about it you jacked off to my friend doing it with my ex not only doing some Spider-christening but also how they engaged in exhibitionism!"
It wasn't a question even though it was worded as one and either way the man would still responde. Because he wanted to try to save his own ass or because he was THAT spooked was anybody's bet.
"Now wait just a minute! MJ, PLEASE while I did let my curiosity get the better of me it's not like I just started masturbating when I saw them Spider-Man roughing your Jackpot suit, despit-" Paul just made the biggest mistake of his life after leaving his old dimmension: that what she just watched not only contained plans of Felicia using the suit she gifted her to have sex with Spider-Man and that she has already did that very same thing.
"YOU WHAT? SHE WHAT?" For the first time in ever, she felt angry enough to rival the Hulk at the mere thought that not only was Felicia foreplaying as Jackpot but USING her suit!
Oh, she's gonna get it when I get my hands on her, but first she had to leave and cool down least she destroys the house with her fancy Gauntlet!
A bit over 30 seconds and Paul let out a breath he didn't know he was holding it in and could continue what he was doing:finding that damn treasure chest!
From what he happened to hear he thought that maybe he could go there and take the casette while Mary Jane was away.
Oh, what a fool's dream that was, and things kept getting more bizarre: he knew that the recording started playing recently which suggested that the object of his quest was still where it was left. The untouched and somewhat still warm popcorn reinforced the unlikely theory that somehow the box disappeared shortly after, and as someonw who hailed from a different dimmension he knew there were stranger things that could happen.
The door's sudden creek interrupted his musings among many other decisions but the gas threw that was coming in completely gobsmacked him.
And even before he could start to proces what was going on he lost his consciousness.
When he came back to, he noticed two things: that he was still in the room where he fell asleep.
The other being that not only a few hours have passed but that the videotape was gone too.
Which only raised more questions chief among them being why would someone do this only to steal only that tape and leave everything else alone.
A tour of the house only confirmed that as well as MJ's screams and confusion as to why this happened.
While the two of them were trying to figure out what happened the real answers were outside. Or rather the ones who were responsible for this:Spider-Man and Doctor Strange.
"Well, Doc... is it legit or a fake alarm", asked the Webbed Wonder.
"It is as I feared! It does appear that besides being a weapon the bracelet also works as an amplifier for the one whenever the spell would start to weaken." Doctor Strange has changed his position to better showcase the gadget that was encased in a of magic made sphere.
"So you mean that besides Rabin, Paul DID dable in mind control. Is this somekind of family tradition or what?" Spider-Man was once again showing his usual humor though it was more of a serious question than usually.
"When you helped me to secure and secure the bracelet I know that it looked more like disguising the fake and removing the original instead of taking a closer look, but I already did that and the results aren't different. The only reason I still went on with the removal is because it was the only way to remove the bracelet while also making sure that, not only it could not be inspected but also to not trigger the safeguard. And no, the spell won't go away immediately, since as I said before, without it Ms. Watson would break free of the illusion." Give it up to the good Doctor, not only for knowing the Webhead well enough to figure out what he was going to ask, but also his worries.
"This", he said while clasping the Friendly Neighborhood's shoulder " only shows that unlike his Father, his mastery is still lacking, since I didn't see that you were marked with a spell that was supposed to make you weaker while also contributing with the alienation you got from your friends, but from what I know and managed to learn, it was also a rushed job for someone of your will, but because you have the unhealthy habit of blaming yourself for anything, a simple spell managed designed to do just that, you under control with none of us even observing wiser. Why the second spell he used was gone when he died is something I could only guess, but I believe his God left the spell that was supposed to be your punishment with whatever power he had when he was briefly materialised into our plane."
Strange knows that even though it may not be the Mother of all Bombshells, it was still a very big one to take and not the only one he has to deliver he would still have liked to give his friend more time to digest the revelation he had to get everything out before something big happens, and as loathe as he was to admit it, the Universe does seem to enjoy messing with the spider-themed hero.
"However that spell, just like the one on Watson doesn't influence their minds to the extent that they wouldn't say things they don't believe, which further makes me to believe that my hypothesis regarding most of your friends and ex-lover was don't care about you besides the times it's more convenient for them to be true and for that I am sorry Peter." Spider-Man was still rational enough to know what the Sorcerer meant: with friends like them who needs enemies?
"I know Doc. I should have faced the music instead of turning a blind eye."
"At the very least, you still have Jameson, Logan, your Aunt, Norman - somehow - and Felicia" the doctor tried to cheer up Peter and hoped he could still remember that why Felicia acted the way she did after the Superior Spider-Man debacle was because he erased the others' memories and in Felicia's case her whole development as a person went down the drain unless he revealed his identity to her. At the very least the one not erased because of Mephisto.
That bit was something he wasn't sure he could restore or to be restored at all.
"I know... I know, and I still can't believe that she chose to stay with me after the whole reveal. Kid or no kid. I mean the whole me being influenced by Rabin and then figuring things out only when we talked about how different this situation was versus our last break up, your check-up and then the reveal of what Mephisto did when I gave him the OK... I'm still surprised she didn't change her mind but also agreed to work things out not only for the sake of Felicity."
"I believe that now with that spell's influence waning over and a little help from me some of her older memories and feelings are resurfacing. I mean not only is Felicity a factor, but also the fact that she managed to recover enough to truly evaluate the situation but also to know it wasn't your fault and maybe because her love for you is stronger that whatever guilt she might feel for not being there to stop you from the start."
"You better listen to him Pete" from behind them came the voice of Felicia Hardy. And to none of their surprise said woman's astral projection was there, thanks to Clea Strange no doubt.
"I only noticed a few things after contemplating a few things regarding us getting back together and when I did approach you regarding it we had the first realisation that somethings were wrong, and then the whole magic ckech-up and revelations, only I'm far more mature and we both decided that we will try again regardless of what else we find out we'll be there for one another and don't forget we both decided to go for another more specific and thorough check-up after we both decided that our paranoia was more than justified despite the whole Limbo and the whole you being under a weird spell we needed those answers. And don't forgot we were both surprised when Strange told us I was pregnant despite of how satisfying and long were those "wrestling matches", but then again we would have had more kids then"
"And not only with me", she says with a teasing tone.
"Yes, I know, and I'm only like this because of how things have turned out in the past that I still can't help but think it's actually happening", the now somehwat Father replied.
"Understandable, and it's quite good we found a trusty psichiatrist too, or who knows how much needless worries we'd have on our backs?"
"Don't sell yourself short, you helped more with that and before you ask yes, I got what you asked for", with that, the reason for taking the sex tapes is revealed.
"Did you really have to send that many tapes? I mean, I understad the need to get payback but still, were you planning on doing this regardless of whether or not we discovered something was afoot?" Instead of reproach there was mirth in Strange's voice, and for good reason too: when would he get another chance to not only shut the infamous motor mouth of Spider-Man but also Black Cat, let alone catch them off guard and make them blush in embarrassment?
Yet here he was, and he knew Cleo was enjoying this much more than he was.
Oh, well there was more of that to come, giving he was their daughter's official Magic instructor and honorific Uncle. A part of him wondered if he'd also become her official Godfather, but that was another thing.
He and Spider-Man were now back on track on ensuring Paul won't be able to build a replacement and watch how he will be dealt with.
Both he and Peter could hardly wait.