Breaking the Deal

Written in response to One More Day, Breaking the Deal is NKSCF's way of showing what should have happened to Spider-Man after the derailment of his characterization that led to Mary Jane and him giving away their marriage to Mephisto, Marvel's closest analogue to the Devil. Ten chapters, one epilogue, and one Q & A session long, the story follows Spider-Man as he figures out that he sold away his marriage to Mephisto thanks to the intervention of the former Dr. Strange and current Sorcerer Supreme Dr. Voodoo, as his allies work on a way to give him a chance to restore reality to its proper place. Mephisto, meanwhile, has used the deal as a means of gaining power and is now working on a way to control the entire multiverse, and has kidnapped Mary Jane as a means of making sure Spider-Man can't stop him before he succeeds in taking over all of reality. Going out alone into Mephisto's dimension, Spider-Man does whatever it takes to get her back and restore reality to its proper state.

One of the better fan-fics out there, proving that there are some stories out there that are as good, or even better than the source material. Written by a continuity buff, especially of the old Marvel Team-Up series, Breaking the Deal is one of the few fan-fics out there that can take the Fix Fic premise and actually show consequences for the incident that needs fixing.

Seen in all its glory here: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5852792/1/Breaking_the_Deal

Tropes used in Breaking the Deal include:

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• Action Girl: Mary Jane handles herself particularly well for a non-powered human going against demons, even managing to hold off several of N'astirh's demons and a group of Dire Wraiths by herself for a while before she got overwhelmed and knocked out by N'astirh himself after he gets tired of waiting for her to lose!
• Author Appeal: The non-sexual kind, with the author flat out saying that he loves Big Damn Heroes moments, the original run of Marvel Team-Up, and Spider-Man in general.
• Author Filibuster: Basically this fan-fic in a nutshell, but he also manages an amazing story in the meantime.
• Avengers Assemble: Spider-Man gets to say the line once the gathered group of every hero he has ever worked with has arrived to help him rescue Mary Jane from Mephisto.
• Big Bad: Mephisto, natch.
• Big Damn Heroes: NKSCF has admitted that he is in love with this trope. Just when things look like they're at the worst possible point, expect a large group of heroes or villains to arrive and save the day.
• Bittersweet Ending: Spider-Man and Mary Jane's marriage is restored, no one gathered to stop Mephisto dies, and they all return home safely, but as a consequence of allowing it to happen in the first place, Aunt May has to die, just like she should have in the original time line.
• Chekhov's Skill: During his fight with Blackheart, Spider-Man recalls the time when Daredevil and he had managed to fight off Blackheart in his first appearance, eventually realizing that pure intentions and positive thoughts are anathema to the demon, using it to defeat him by focusing on his desire to save Mary Jane and restore reality to its proper place. He later uses this to great effect against Mephisto, leading to him defeating the demon lord.
• Cosmic Horror: The Cancerverse beings are allied with Mephisto and fight against Spider-Man and his allies many times in the course of the fan-fic.
• Curb Stomp Battle: When Prowler and Rocket Racer attempt to save Mary Jane from N'astirh, this is what happens. The scene was compared by one reviewer like this: "It's like sending Crimson Avenger and Speedy against Darkseid."
• Deadpan Snarker: Spider-Man doing what he does best, especially when he remarks on New York's ability to be the only city that can have several superhero battles going on at once:

Spider-Man: "What is it with this city that makes every nut job for miles around think it’s a good idea to start blowing things up?" Spider-Man asked himself. "I mean seriously, I’ve gone past like three fights in the span of three seconds. What’s up with—Is that Howard the Duck fighting Drom the Backwards Man with Tagak the Leopard Lord? I give up; why bother complaining when it’s just gonna keep happening whether I like it or not?"

• Deal with the Devil: Shown as one of the worst things that could ever happen to the multiverse.
• Dem Bones: Spider-Man sings a mechanical version of this when he disables White Rabbit's gigantic rabbit robot.
• The Determinator: As befits his nature, Spider-Man uses his natural resolve and will to defeat N'astirh, Blackheart, and even Mephisto. In fact his inability to accept defeat almost caused him to be killed slowly and painfully by Hybrid, but he was weak from defeating Blackheart at the time and was saved thanks to the intervention of Captain America (comics), Doctor Doom, ROM Spaceknight, Elixir and Ghost Rider.
• Doctor Doom: One of many individuals that come to save Spider-Man, but he claims that he's only in it to get back at Mephisto for manipulating him during the events of One More Day, and not allowing him full control of his own mind.
• Executive Meddling: The only reason this fan-fic exists in the first place.
• Final Battle: In all its glory: Every single hero that Spider-Man has ever worked with, and even some of his worst villains join together and fight against the many minions of Mephisto, culminating in Spider-Man defeating Mephisto with the help of his unbreakable spirit and pure heart.
• Fix Fic: One of the better and more intelligent ones out there.
• Genre Savvy: Spider-Man has been doing the same job for years, and can call out the different tropes he encounters just as easily as spouting out his trademarked banter.
• Good Thing You Can Heal: Or rather good thing Elixir can heal anything, which saves Spider-Man's life after he almost dies at the hand of Hybrid.
• Heroic BSOD: Spider-Man goes through a big one after he learns of the deal with Mephisto and what it has done to reality.
• Incredibly Lame Pun: Spider-Man calls himself out when he remarks that defeating the newest man to wear the Cyclone suit was a breeze.
  • He also names this trope word by word when the Demogoblin appears and says he was crushed when they were forced to part.
• Just Between You and Me: Mephisto has one with Mary Jane about her being one of the reasons why he's become so powerful. However, thanks to her future daughter's soul-self, Mary Jane doesn't break down completely and keeps fighting his attempts to demoralize her.
• Killed Off for Real: Aunt May at the end as a consequence of the deal with Mephisto, since she should have died in the true time line anyways.
• Lampshade Hanging: One of the author's favorite pastimes when he's discussing the mechanics of the the superhero genre.
• Loads and Loads of Characters: Just about every single hero in Marvel either appears or is mentioned here.
• Love It or Hate It: Some of the scenes near the end that showcase Deadpool and his usual goofiness. It's even lampshaded in story by the author.

Christian "NKSCF": "Do you know how conceited it makes me look to be inserted into this fan-fic?" I asked. "I'll already probably get a lot of flak for including this inane piece in an otherwise serious fic. This isn't how it was supposed to happen, you know. I'm just the narrator for crying out loud."

• No Fourth Wall: Deadpool in all his glory displays his trademarked Fourth Wall breaking, even talking to the narrator and arguing with him about the narration. He also takes over the narration for a paragraph and a piece of dialogue before NKSCF takes it over once again, denying Deadpool's Facebook friend request at the same time. Notably, this only happens when Deadpool is around, so the fic is seriously written for the most part, with the occasional loving Lampshade Hanging delivered for good measure.
• One More Day: Displayed as a means for Mephisto to gain immense power due to taking something so pure--the Parker's marriage--which almost succeeds in giving him the chance to take over the entire multiverse. It also provides a means to get rid of Peter and Mary Jane's future daughter, who is destined to become the Sorcerer Supreme that eliminates him for good.
• One of Us: NKSCF is an unabashed lover of Spider-Man, comics in general, and is a member of TV Tropes under the same name he uses to write his fan-fics.
  • The fact that he wrote this fic proves that he hates OMD as bad as most of us here.
• The Only One Allowed to Defeat You: The main reason why Anti-Venom and the Kingpin appear later on to help Spider-Man out in the final battle.
• Out-of-Character Moment: The events of One More Day are explained as Mephisto deliberately messing with the minds of Spider-Man and everyone he sought out for help when he tried to save Aunt May. Needless to say, none of the characters effected are happy to have acted that way.
• Passing the Torch: Kind of, with Spider-Man and Mary Jane learning that their daughter--who has been helping them thanks to the vestiges of her powers that she used to protect herself in the future once she learned of the deal with Mephisto--will become Sorcerer Supreme and destroy Mephisto forever.
• Punctuated! For! Emphasis!: On his way to victory over Mephisto, Spider-Man lets out a subsequent Take That and Crowning Moment of Awesome at once:

Spider-Man: "Not one more day of this, Mephisto!" Spider-Man yelled as he landed a blow for every word he spoke. "NOT! ONE! MORE! DAY!"

• Running Gag: Spider-Man being called an insect and him correcting the other person by saying they mean arachnid.
• Sequel Hook: NKSCF deliberately left one with Mephisto plotting his revenge against Spider-Man for making him lose his powers, which, along with the fact that N'astirh promised revenge as well, and now Spider-Man is in a new continuity with his marriage restored, leaves many possibilities open for new stories. Confirmed by NKSCF.
• Shout-Out: Many, including to Monty Python, DC Comics, and past Marvel story lines.
• Something Completely Different: Used to describe the transition from the Deadpool scene to the more serious parts of the last battle.
• Take That: Despite saying that he enjoys some of the stories that have come about as a result of One More Day, NKSCF has also called out the writers for their mishandling of the deal with Mephisto, the personality changes of some of the more well-beloved characters from the series, as well as some lighthearted shots at Silver Age Superman's powers, such as super-ventriloquism.
• Ten-Minute Retirement: Spidey goes through one once he loses Mary Jane to Mephisto, but he gets pulled out of it during a dream, where he encounters his future daughter and Uncle Ben, who both encourage him to save Mary Jane and reclaim their marriage.
• The Power of Love: The only way that Spider-Man can defeat Mephisto. It Makes Sense in Context.
• Troperiffic: Not surprising, considering the fact that the author is a troper himself.
• Unwitting Pawn: Spider-Man and Mary Jane become this when Mephisto manipulates them to make the deal with him, giving him massive power by taking something so pure away, thus causing him to almost take over the multiverse.
• Unusual Euphemism: "Son of a Brood Queen!"
• Villainous Breakdown: Mephisto has a grand one when he figures out that he's been defeated.
• What Have I Done: Peter's reaction to finding out the way in which he lost his marriage to Mephisto.
• What the Hell, Hero?: Spider-Man expects all of his allies to call him out on what happened with the deal. However, he soon finds out that they all care about him enough to not even ask why they need to help him out. All they needed to hear was that Spider-Man was in trouble and that was a good enough reason for them to mobilize and take on everything Mephisto had to throw at them.
• Word of God: The author is an avid troper, and even provided a Q & A session to answer some of his reviewer's questions.
• You Are Too Late: Mephisto tries to tell Spider-Man this, but being himself, Spidey tells him that he'll win anyway.
• Zig-Zagging Trope: Several times in the fan-fic it seems like NKSCF is Lampshade Hanging everything, while other times the more inane parts of comic books are not even noted on at all, but then Deadpool's doing his thing and the trope begins anew.