Chapter 37: Whispers Of Green
Around 2 AM, I woke up, and found that to my surprise, I wasn't alone in the bed. Death, Natasha, Cindy, Okoye, Crystal, Wanda, Liz, and Gwen were all on the bed.
I blinked, processing what I was seeing, then I quietly got out of the bed, making sure I didn't wake any of them.
I went downstairs, eating a bar, and to my surprise, a light was on in the dining room.
I listened for the heartbeat, then I said "Kaine? You good bro?"
He sighed "I'm fine. I'm just worried. How are you managing? The stress I have is nothing near to what you're going through."
I sat across from him. "I don't manage. I just, ignore it. In my head, I'm screaming right now, screaming all the time. C'mon, sulking isn't going to do us shit. We're going out, and saving some people."
"Did you receive a message from Thanos?" He asked, getting up.
"He broke all of my defenses I placed when we were still powerful." I said, getting up as well. "Tomorrow, he will talk to me. Not today. But this stays between me and you."
"I know." He said, suiting up, as I did the same.
We got out through the secret exit, and we started swinging around the city in silence.
Eventually, our hearing picked up a heist, and we headed in the direction of the disturbance.
It was a normal warehouse, and there were twenty heartbeats inside, all of them up, and moving, sometimes exchanging words with each other.
"Looks pretty normal." I said "But, something is telling me otherwise. They're too organized."
"Agreed." Kaine said "I take front, you take back?"
"I take back." I confirmed, then we both crawled down the walls quietly, to our positions.
Once I was behind the warehouse, where their vans were, I got into the first van, and removed the steering wheel quietly, then proceeded to do the same for the other vans. Then I looked into the back of the van, and opened one of the boxes, and saw that it was filled with Stark missiles.
I quietly closed the box, and got on top of the van. After a moment, two people came, carrying another box, and one of them said "You heard that Big Man is going into a deal that will save us the trouble of fighting Spider-Man, and his buddies?"
"What type of help?" The other asked.
"Remember that rhino thing? Things like those." Thug 1 said.
"As long as the attention is off of us, I don't care." Thug 2 said "That thing wants to take us down, I know it."
"I know." Thug 1 said "But, Spider-Man hasn't made a move on us yet, just some threats, so we're safe for now."
"You just had to jinx it." I said, then webbed them up.
Then I went along, webbing anyone I could as fast as I could. Eventually, I had webbed about ten people, and I was just entering the warehouse.
"Kaine." I said into the comms. "You got the perps?"
"I got eight of them." He said "But two of them have put a homing missile on my ass."
"Come towards me." I said.
"I'm almost there." He said, then he popped up in front of me, a missile following him.
He got to me, and immediately, we both went two different ways, and the missile couldn't tell which one of us was its target, due to the similarity of our heat signatures. Kaine took it, and ripped it into two.
He looked at me, and said "This is annoying. I can barely remember what we could do."
"Same." I said "Like, I never tested my limits before, so I can't say what will take me out, is a missile good enough?"
We started crawling across the walls toward where the remaining two robbers were. In a fluid motion, we webbed both of them, and we took them out, where we had placed everyone else. We threw them onto our web wall, and they got stuck there, along with the remaining robbers.
I looked at Kaine, and said "One of them said something about Tombstone trying to get superhumans."
"Then Osborn's on the rise." Kaine said, and he turned to the web of robbers, and said "Alright! I'm going to ask this only one time, then things will get nasty." He glared at them with his lenses, and unsheathed his stingers and fangs. "What's the word on Big Man, and his superhumans?"
They were all trembling to a degree, and the one who was talking about it earlier said "I only heard rumors."
"It seemed a lot more than just rumors." I said, at the guy's face, with my fang nearly touching his cheek.
"I don't know!" The guy said, sweat appearing on his forehead. "I only heard they're making freaks!"
"You were a real help." I said sarcastically, then tapped him on the head, knocking him out. Then I and Kaine made quick work of them, and within a couple seconds, they were all knocked out.
I shot my parting webs, and I and Kaine attached our cards onto it, then we portalled the vans to our garage, and swung away.
After several hours, we had stopped a good amount of petty crime, and it was almost 6 AM. "Time to head back home." I said.
"Yeah." Kaine agreed. "When you come back, we're going to the Hand dojo, or are we sparring in the gym?"
"Hand dojo." I said as we entered the secret entrance to our home.
We popped up in the corner of the living room, and Aunt May was the only one there, and she said "Welcome back, not that anyone noticed you were gone."
"Thanks." We said, deactivating our suits. I went to the kitchen, and started preparing some bowls to make some pancakes.
"So, the insomnia returns." Aunt May said sadly, watching us. Both of us froze, and looked at her. "It never really left though, did it?"
"No, it never did." I admitted, sighing. "What clued you onto that? We always left for patrol at this time anyway."
"Possibly the fact that you guys were both out." Aunt May said "You guys are very similar, and Ben is more different."
"That's true." I said "Ben is more... Ben, and we're both more of Anti-Spider-Men."
Aunt May nodded, as she drank a cup of water. "Well? What's the plan? What are you going to push yourself to do after school?"
"We're going to the Hand dojo." Kaine said "I think we should take Danny as well, he'd appreciate the gesture."
"What's a Hand?" Aunt May asked.
"Aunt May, The Hand is a League." I said "They aim at... Immortality. But they are the declared enemies of vigilantes, and Danny's people. Daredevil was amongst the first vigilantes to clash with them."
"They're basically Illuminati, but real." Kaine said "Not really scary in the long run, but can grow to be an actual threat. They have the greatest fighters there."
"And to defeat the best, you have to learn from the best." Aunt May said "Did you not learn enough in your memories?"
"That only applied to when I was bonding." I said "The soul was involved, and if it wasn't involved, things would be easier."
"But your father isn't cool with that." Aunt May said, and we cringed at the statement. "Sorry, I won't call him that again."
"It's fine, I said it myself." I said, but I wasn't really fine with it. "This is one of the few steps towards making The Way Of The Spider."
"What's The Way Of The Spider?" Aunt May asked.
"It's a martial art." Kaine said "In the comics, Spider-Man of Earth-616 made it, when he lost his spider sense. It's geared for us spider totems, and hopefully, we can make it better than ever."
"We aim to make it the ultimate evolution of every form of martial arts." I said "616 knew only so much, we're going to put it higher."
"You're going to make an already deadly crew the deadliest." Aunt May said. "I like that."
"Glad to know you approve." I said, as I whipped the batter for the pancakes. "This will hopefully be something we won't regret."
"Hopefully." Kaine said "But going back to what we discovered, how are we going to show Tony the missiles?"
"Missiles?" Aunt May asked. "What did you run into during patrol?"
"A deal." I said "It was arranged beforehand, they were just there for the pickup, the perps we caught. Right now, in the garage, is three vans filled with Stark missiles."
"How many missiles were aimed at you?" Aunt May asked. "And don't, lie."
"Just one." I said honestly. "And it was aimed at Kaine, not me, and he ripped it into two."
"Ok." Aunt May said, not even blinking. "Now, answer this. What happened yesterday?"
I sighed as I flipped six pancakes with my arms and spider legs, and said "So, basically, Father isn't happy that I had shit too easy. And he wants to make sure I grow to be a strong man, or some shit. So, he calls us all, and says that we're moving forward to phase two of this thing, whatever it is, and then he condenses our powers, so that they won't reveal themselves, unless we're about to die. But our Celestial powers are still effective, not on ourselves, but they work on other things, like when we make planets, and that stuff. Luckily, we got to keep the knowledge we gleaned during the times."
"And why did you keep on dying, however many times you did?"
"So, that was just the pain they would've experienced, if I didn't take it for them." I said. "It was a total of seventy-nine times, and that sucked, big time."
"Ok." Aunt May said. "But just make sure, you keep your sanity. I'm not going to tell you anything else, I won't tell you to sleep for eight hours, I'm not going to tell you anything else. Just, keep your sanity. You're still my kids, even after everything."
Then she left, and after a moment, I said "I can only promise to try my best."
"That's all she needs." Kaine said softly. "But we both know we're going to fail, don't we?"
"If I'm reading the situation correctly, yes." I said. "Thanos will only send message after message, and then I may just turn out to create Ultron."
"You don't truly believe that, but it seems to be the only possibility." Kaine said. "We won't fail, trust me."
"I don't even trust myself." I said
"You're not trusting yourself, you're trusting me. Just as I am trusting you, but not myself."
I nodded, then we just stood there in comfortable silence, with me flipping the pancakes.
After ten minutes, Wanda came, and Kaine sighed then left, and then Wanda said "You already started? Smells good. You and Kaine ok?"
"Admitting defeat already?" I asked, smirking. "Just wait, the taste will make the scent seem meager. And yes, we're good, just had a heart to heart."
"We'll see who does better. And if you say you're fine, then ok, but I know you left the room at least four hours ago." Wanda said, as she started getting bowls out to make her own pancake batter.
As she passed me, she playfully pinched my butt, and I said "Hey! And we both went patrolling, and busted a weaponry deal. Nothing is too wrong."
"Keyword: Too wrong." She said, her beautifully accented voice showing her worry. "I don't care whether you do your best to keep us safe or not, I want you to take care of yourself at least enough."
"You should care about whether I do my best or not." I said. "If it was back to my old days, then fine, cuz a flick of my finger was more than enough. But now, I'm way weaker, just a human, a joke."
She stopped next to me to lean up and kiss my cheek, and said "Remember when I first met you? You were already The Sorcerer Superior. You're &$%#%$, and that's more than enough for me."
"It may be more than enough for you, but it isn't more than enough for the world, for the children on the streets, for those in the orphanages, for the abused, for even the normal people."
"Every single child you save is more than enough. Every single check that is bigger than what it's supposed to be, every single piece of trash you pick up, every single time you save the world. Like you said yesterday, it's the smallest things, that save the world."
"You watched the news?" I asked.
"I had Sexi show it to me as it happened," she said, flipping her first pancakes. "You gave a pretty damn good speech, Petr."
"I aim to please." I said.
"Well, you pleased me very much." Wanda said, giving me a hug, and I hugged her back.
We continued making pancakes in silence, then after thirty minutes, we finished, and took the plates of pancakes to the table, and everyone was already there, and I set the plates on the table, and brought the syrups, maple and chocolate, then said "Dig in!"
They all took their pancakes quickly, and I and Wanda sat down as well, and took our portions, and we ate in silence.
After a couple minutes, Talia said "Death, how were you able to sleep?"
"When Legend saved me," Death said, then she paused to look at me "and don't tell me you're no longer a Legend, to me, you still are. Anyways, the only side effect of the spell when he saved me is that when I want, I can sleep. Not really bad, or anything, but I can sleep if I want to now. And I don't have to watch over my gate, I just know that the people are going through."
"It wasn't really a side effect." I said "It was more of something that would happen, if you wanted to, or didn't. Those parts of the spells, were connected to your wishes fully, and had nothing to do with what I wanted."
"That is nice of you, Legend." Death said. "Thank you."
"No need to thank me, I was just doing what I'd think you'd appreciate." I said. "It was always beautiful to me, when I saw you sleeping, with Tarts cuddled into your arms."
"No embarrassing baby stories, please." Tarts said, his voice filled with desperation.
"Sorry, Cherry Face." Sexi said "I really want to hear this, and Dad is clearly with me on this, and so is your mom."
"One of the best stories, is when he was five years old, compared to human age." I said, smirking. "He was sulking, because I closed the portal to the drawer that had his toys." at this point, Tarts groaned, because he knew which story this was. "He went to one of his planets, and started riding a Pegasus that was there, and when the Pegasus, bless his soul, was understandably irritated, and started running ferociously, and Tarts is sitting on the back of him, and holding his mane with his sticky powers, thinking that he's going to guide the Pegasus. He's improvising all the time, and thinking that he's driving the Pegasus, when he's really only managing to use his powers to stick onto the Pegasus, and they're just going, and I and Reaper are just watching from above, and laughing at what we were seeing. Eventually, Tarts has enough, and he wants to get down, and tries to stop the Pegasus, but instead, the Pegasus starts flying, and is flying upside down, and Tarts is just screaming at him, telling him to behave, and that he was supposed to listen to him, and he realizes that the Pegasus isn't going to listen to him, and he starts smacking it, telling him that he was a bad boy, and that the Pegasus's dad would be so disappointed in him. They went along this way for a while, and I was torn between helping him or just watching, and Death said to leave Tarts to figure this out himself, so I did. Eventually, Tarts hit his wings, and the Pegasus was surprised, and started falling. Tarts shot some webs, and was able to save himself, but the Pegasus was still falling. Tarts jumps at him, and says 'look, bad boy, you want to live, we got to work together. Flap your wings, and I'll take care of the rest.' The Pegasus is already flapping his wings, and Tarts sticks his hands to the Pegasus's wings, and starts flapping even more ferociously, and webs to four trees with his spider legs, slowing their descent, and breaking the trees. That was all they needed, and they were flying in the air softly, and Tarts combed the mane of the Pegasus softly, and says 'good job, pal. We're going to be best friends.' The Pegasus moves his head, and starts rubbing Tarts' neck, enjoying the presence of Tarts, and Tarts says -"
"No!" Tarts exclaimed. "You can tell them everything, but not this part!"
"Sorry, Tarts." I said "This part was the best." At this point, everyone was already laughing, and they looked at me, holding in their laughter so as to be able to properly hear this part. "So, Tarts says 'so, bad boy, we got to name you.' Tarts put his finger to his chin, thinking, then after a moment, he says 'got it! We're going to call you Jackass!'"
At that, we all imploded into laughter, and Tarts looked embarrassed, and after a minute of us just laughing, he said "It's not that funny."
"It is, Cherry Face." Sexi said, in between laughs. "You named your horse Jackass!"
"Ok guys, enough laughing at my grandson's poor reasoning as a child." Aunt May said. "Time to go to work, or class."
We all sobered, and headed to our rooms, and got dressed. I got ready, then headed to the garage, and as I waited for the rest, I sent pictures of the vans, and their contents, to Tony.
As I finished taking the pictures, the others came to the garage, and as we got into the Escalade, Ava said "Peter, what are those vans?"
I pulled out of the garage, and said "The vans from a weaponry deal that I and Kaine busted. They're filled with Stark Industries weaponry."
"Then why did you keep it?" Sam asked, confused.
"Damn, Buckethead." I said "I thought you were smarter than those Imperial Bucketheads. I'm going to give it to Tony, and he's going to destroy it, as well as use it to tie the loose ends in his company."
"Oh!" Sam said, understanding. "How did I not see that coming? That was kinda obvious!"
"Because you're a Buckethead." I said, and we all laughed at his expense.
Sam groaned, and said "I'm not that dumb. I can aim better than those doofuses."
"Even the Wrecking Crew is smarter than you." I said. "You haven't met them yet, but still, they're smarter than you, and they're dumb as hell. And your aim is nothing like mine. I can get my Nova helmet, and we can have a competition."
"You have a Nova helmet?" Sam asked.
I looked at him, and said "Surprised? I already told you I created the first Nova helmet. My helmet is on one of my planets. I kept a helmet in preparation for these days, when I am no longer a titan. It won't help too much, I'd rather give it to someone, it will only impair my magic."
"You just dissed my helmet." Sam said.
"I did." I confirmed. "It's not good for me, but I won't hesitate to use my powers, to attach it to me permanently, then there won't be any problems, and the helmet can be thrown away. But I won't do that, unless I know that I need to."
"What?" Tess asked. "I thought you lost your powers."
"This is something else." I said "I discovered what our powers were, us Adaptoids. We're actually, live synthetic codex. I learned how to control our power to such an extent, I can suck the power of what I want, and not do it to what I want. But if I get a Klyntarian symbiote, then I will suck him or her."
"I totally understood what you just said." Tess said.
Miles and Cindy, on the other hand, were a totally different story. "No way!" They both exclaimed.
"Yes way." I said.
"So Knull is going to come for AJ!" Cindy said worriedly. "Please tell me you have a plan!"
"Why is he going to come for any of us in the first place?" AJ and Tess asked.
"He's a live codex, that's why." I said "And currently, the only other live codex, is The Enigma Force. And we're threats to his kingdom. I don't know if he regained his power, ever since I died at his hands. In the comics, there was another live codex, and Knull wrought carnage on Earth, seeking to make the kid his heir, but the kid's father killed Knull. And Cindy, I have several plans in place. But he doesn't know of us, he won't know what to look for, because he's sensed me since the beginning of times, so he can't tell. And he's asleep now, been like that for the past several million years, and won't awaken till I'm ready to kick his ass."
At this point, we arrived at school, and the doors lowered, and we got out.
I went to my first class, and when Felicia sat next to me, I gave her a fist bump, and she bumped it, then whispered "How've you been doing ever since you died? I had to go sleep at home, and next time, pick me up! I want to come in a flashy car!"
"I've been chilling!" I whispered back. "I busted one of Big Man's weaponry deals last night, and I made breakfast, but forgot to ask for the votes on who made better pancakes, me or Wanda! How's your dad? And I will pick you up tomorrow onwards, and I think Sexi has made you a motorcycle with your colors!"
"That's awesome! I get to get away from my heists in style!"
"I'll be chasing you! We're officially on two different sides of the law, which I can ignore, as long as you only bust bad dudes, like Hammerhead, and my building on a dare, every now and then!"
"I don't heist anyone other than places I figure out through my mom! No need to worry!"
"If everyone could please focus." The teacher said, drawing us from our discussion.
The first half of classes went smoothly after that, but I was bored, usually I managed by doing other stuff in the background, but I could no longer do that.
After an eternity of torment, it was finally time for lunch, and I bursted out of the class, then made my way to our usual table, and sat down.
After a couple minutes, Felicia came to the table, and sat down across from me. "As I was saying," she said "I'm not about to rob Tony, or any random person, if you're worried about that. I only do it to people who deserve it, like The Big Man. But I wouldn't mind you chasing me across the city, that would be fun."
I smirked at her, and said "I'll go easy, and you'll still be caught in a minute."
"Then pity little young me, and entertain me for at least ten minutes." Felicia said, mirroring my smirk.
"I'm cool with that, as long as you make those couple of minutes entertaining."
The others came and sat down, and Felicia said "I will. But this'll just be me and you, no one else."
"What are you guys talking about?" Wanda asked.
"Nothing, I'm just going to have fun with Pete over here." Felicia said, flipping her hair, and batting her eyelashes innocently.
"What kind of fun?" Luke asked, immediately thinking in the 'bed' direction.
"That, is none of your business, pal." Felicia said, doing nothing to quell his thoughts that I and Felicia would be sleeping with each other. "You'll know, when you hear about it, from Ava."
Ava made a choking sound, then she said "We didn't need to think about that, thank you very much, and no thank you."
"What!?" Felicia evilly said "I didn't say anything explicitly wrong! You guys already know about this stuff."
"I'm confused." Sam said.
"Be happy that you are, Buckethead." I said, laughing quietly at Felicia's actions.
"For real." AJ said, looking like he wanted to leave the table. "I don't know how you didn't understand, but I wish I was as dumb as you."
"Kitten, please don't go on." I said, chuckling. "We've got kids here."
"Have you seen kids movies?" Felicia said incredulously. "They have the worst jokes there! I'm keeping it relatively clean!"
"Well, that doesn't mean you can just... Put such...ugh!" Luke just gave up, and looked like he was about to blow his mind open.
"Mind your thoughts!" Ava growled at him, and he looked like he wanted to run away. Ava turned to face Felicia, and said "Please, shut up."
"I didn't say anything." Felicia said, smirking. "You want me to scream -"
"Go to hell, and don't you dare finish that sentence." Ava said, glaring daggers at Felicia, who looked unfazed.
"Aww, but -"
"Shut. It. Before I..." Ava said, looking like she was going to pounce across the table at Felicia.
"Ever the tease." Felicia said, then she turned to me. "Tonight, when you're out for patrol, I'll meet you."
"Parker Industries HQ." I said. "My office, the spider emblem on my computer."
"It's not going to be some sort of trap, that'll stick me onto a web in the middle of the room?" She asked.
"Wouldn't you like that." I said, smirking. "But no, it isn't. You'll find out, when you do."
"Ok, enough of this weird thing." Jean said "Nat is no longer gym teacher, Sabine took her position, and Nat is on leave."
"I hoped she would do that before I asked her to." I said, smiling. "She's very... Badass. I wouldn't be surprised, if she killed a bunch of dudes right after she gave birth, or something."
"Did that happen in another universe?" Tess asked.
"Yeah, but not to Nat." Miles said "To the other Spy-der, Jessica Drew. She killed a whole bunch of Skrulls, don't bother with who they are."
"That Prince was super funny." I said "he called Jessica the 'Avenger with a butt' to her face."
Everyone cracked at that, and Cindy said "If I was an Avenger, she would be the red Avenger with a butt."
I was about to say something, then I saw Harry Osborn coming our way, with a girl that looked familiar, and I put my hand out, to tell everyone to calm down, and they did, then when Harry came up to us, I said "What's up, Harry? Realized your old table had all the fame in it, and you spending money got you nowhere, so you came back here?"
"That's not what this is about, Peter." Harry said "I know it looks like that, but I need your help."
I signalled him to an empty spot to sit, and him and his girlfriend sat down, then he took a deep breath, then said "It's about my dad."
"You heard him doing some shady stuff, didn't you?" I said sympathetically. "Was he talking to Hammerhead?"
"You know about it already? How?" He asked.
"Explain your side, then I will explain from mine." I said, leaving no room for argument.
He looked surprised for a second, then he nodded, and said "So, I heard him talking to this random guy, that had a really bad accent, real strong New Yorker accent. This guy was asking for his superhumans, and my dad said that they had to get the right people, they didn't want to have a repeat of last time. Then the other dude said that he better get it done as fast as possible, and he had until next week. Dad said 'just you wait, the Big Man will be happy, Hammerhead. And don't, think you can threaten me, that won't be tolerated.' Then this Hammerhead dude just grunted, then disconnected the video call. I was watching through a crack in the door, and I saw Dad look at a vial with green liquid, and said 'The Big Man will be happy, then he will be out of the picture, I'm getting it all.' Then I tiptoed away, and that was this morning, I was running late for school."
I nodded sadly, and said "I'm sorry, Harry, I really am. As to how I know, I'm one of Karma's lieutenants, as you probably know. He is doing his best to crack this situation, and I actually worked with him a couple days ago, and hacked OsCorp databases, and tweaked some data, to slow things down. He can't move yet. But if you want, we will advance as soon as possible. I have to warn you though, your father might already be lost to us. If Norman gets hurt in any way, shape, or form, during our clashes, then I am incredibly sorry. And I can't believe that I'm asking you to be my spy against your dad, but can you give me any more information?"
He nodded, and said "This is my girlfriend, Liz Toomes." Oh, that's the information. "I actually met her first, through my dad. She started coming here this year, and she told me she suspected our parents doing illegal things, but I dismissed the thoughts, but I regret it. She probably has some more information, I'm sorry, I have nothing."
I nodded, then looked at Liz Toomes, and said "So, Toomes. What dirt do you have on Adrian that I can give to Karma?"
She looked surprised that I knew who her father was, and said "Well, whenever I ask Dad what he does for a job, he never says anything sufficient. And when I asked my older brother, he said 'I can't tell you, but you'll know, pretty soon.' Then, later on, I pressed a button in the garage, and found a bunch of things, but in the middle of the room, there -"
"Was a wingsuit." I said, cutting her off, then I realized what I did. "Sorry, I cut you off. Please continue, but also, do you have nieces and nephews?"
"While I don't know how that relates to the topic, I do." She said "My niece is named Tiana Toomes, she's about two years younger than me." No one saw the quick kick I and Cindy gave to Miles' leg at that. "And my nephew, is about ten years old. His name is Johnny. Anyways, so I find the wingsuit, and then after a little digging in the computers in the hidden lab, I find a name for the suit, The Vulture. Then I find some mentions of OsCorp, but it's all hidden, and not concrete, just suggesting. That's all I have."
Miles was glaring at both me and Cindy, and Cindy just shrugged, and no one noticed, because the attention was on me, as I put my head in my hands to hide my smirk. I wiped the smirk off my face, then rose it, and said "Was there any mention of an Otto Octavius in the files?"
"Actually, there was, now that I think about it." Liz Toomes said, after thinking for a moment. "He was logged as the co builder of the suit, the main builder being my dad."
I nodded, and said "Any other mentions of any names? Possibly Mac Gargan, or Flint Marko, or Alexander O'Hirn, or Quentin Beck, or anyone else?"
"There was the mention of O'Hirn, but that's it." Liz said. "He was mentioned as a funder."
"That's...different." I said "As in, not as Karma told me to expect. But ignoring all this, we need to give Liz Toomes a new nickname, two Lizs is going to be annoying, a little bit."
"A little bit? Try a lot." Both Lizs said, and we all laughed.
"Just call me El, I guess." Liz Toomes said "I can't do Betty either, you've got one of those, so El is what'll stick."
"El? El. El." I said, rolling it on my tongue. "It works, but we can't have anymore Elizabeths coming here, too complicated."
"I agree." Liz said, and we all laughed again.
The rest of lunch delved into semi-normal conversation, and then we were heading for classes.
I went for PE after, and saw Sabine there, and class went by smoothly, but when class was over, Sabine said "Peter Parker, can you please stay back for a moment?"
I stayed back, then when the room was cleared, I said "Is everything all right Sabine?"
She sighed, then said "Well, yeah. Actually, not too much. When I met you for the first time, and you saved me, I thought you were some sort of infallible being. I thought you could take on the world, and still come out on top. And that was true, for the most part. But, this weekend, some dude who you are to afraid to call by name, and when you do, you call him the Shadow, but he just brought you down like a fly. I'm just, worried, and confused."
"You want to know what exactly is going on, and how you can help." I deduced, and when she nodded, I said "Well, you see, to explain, this story starts with a multiverse, a moody teen, and his dudes and dudettes..."
After five minutes, I explained it all, then finished off with "So that's the explanation. And, I'm fine. I don't really need anything, but if I do, then I'll let you know, thanks for the offer!"
"I need a minute to sink all that in." She said, chuckling. "But ok, and go on to your next classes, I guess."
"Yes ma'am." I said, then went to my next class.
After school ended, I found El, and said "El. I just wanted to say to you, the same thing I told Harry. I'm sorry, if your dad is hurt in any way, shape, or form."
"It's fine." She said "Just tell Karma to make sure that everything is done smoothly."
I nodded, then went to the car, and we all piled in after a minute, then Gwen said "Pete, can you drop me off at my house? My dad kinda wants to talk to you, and he's free now, and told me to tell you to please talk to him."
"No problem!" I said, heading in Gwen's house's direction. "But, do you know what your dad wants?"
"I think, it might have to do with how there are several spider totems popping up, and how one of them, is me."
I nodded, and then we pulled up at Gwen's house, and I said "Ok, just stay here y'all, this shouldn't take more than five minutes."
I and Gwen got out of the car, then Gwen opened the door, and said "Dad! Pete's here!"
She nodded at me to enter, and then I did, then Captain Stacy came, and said "Hello, Peter."
"Hi, Captain Stacy." I said, giving him a handshake, while being careful not to crush his hand. "You wanted to talk to me?"
"Yes, I did." He said. He gestured to the couches, and said "Sit." I sat down, and looked at him, then he said "Well, I'm kind of in the dark here. Why are you giving random people suits with your powers?"
"That's not what's happening." I said "So first, me and my sister, Wolf Spider, got our powers from a radioactive spider bite. But the two red suited ladies, they had the power from before, but they aren't as strong as me. Anyways, after that, when the whole vampires attacking the city happened, someone else got the power, and that's the black suit with red webs. But before that, when I fought that Morlun guy, I saved Black Widow with my blood, which effected her physically. She's kinda self explanatory. Oh and also, the white suit, Gwen, is because the spider got into her bag, and bit her. Then, I have a son and daughter, as well as two clones, who I consider my brothers."
"And how, may I ask, are you housing everyone?" Mr. Stacy asked.
"Oh, that's not all the people I have at home." I said "There's the almost one hundred ex assassins, and the others from SHIELD, and yeah. But I use magic so that our house is always big enough."
"Magic is real." Mr. Stacy muttered "Now, while I have a lot of questions, here's what I want to know. I want to ask, is my daughter safe with you?"
"I don't know, sir." I said "I wish, that I could just say yes, with no doubt, but, that isn't the truth."
Mr. Stacy just nodded, then got up, and said "Fine by me. I'm a cop, so I know the feeling, just not to the extent that you do."
I got up, and shook his hand, then after saying goodbye to Gwen, and giving her a kiss on the cheek, I left, and got into the car.
"How was your talk?" Luke asked.
"It went perfect." I said, not delving on the topic, I had no need to.
"Fine then, be like that." Tess said, wanting details.
I rolled my eyes. "He just wanted to understand why there was so many of us popping up, and whether I would keep Gwen safe or not."
"I was checking the news yesterday." Miles said "To my surprise, I saw that Rogers is still adamant, and now, he's part of Spec Ops. But it seems, they are calling for a meeting between us, or at least, some sort of truce, for now. So that they know that they can keep us in check."
"The Sokovian Accords." I said, nodding my head. "Very well then, I will send a message to the Internet, and tell the world to all come to Times Square, where me and Rogers will have a civil discussion."
"Make sure it doesn't come to a civil war." Miles said "That won't be fun."
"They won't start one of those till I'm out of the picture." I said "Look at me, I already have the majority of the superpowered community backing me. Forgetting the raw power that I have, the world is playing a losing game, by trying to control us, with their twisted rules. I'm fine, with a set of rules, that gives us our rights, but I'm not going to be anyone's science experiment."
"Why is it named The Sokovian Accords?" Pietro asked.
"That's because the capital city of Sokovia was turned into rubble, by the Avengers." I said "That was the cost, to save the world. The politicians, and conmen, used that, to try and get their hands on things that they shouldn't."
"The dynamic in this world is turning out to be totally different." Cindy commented. "Captain America is on the side of the government this time around, and Spider-Man is leading the opposing side. Isn't it amazing!? To see, how you defied the expectations of Spider-Man, and instead of just being the hero of New York City, you're the hero of the universe, and the multiverse!"
"So he was supposed to only protect New York City? How'd that work out?" Ava asked.
"Well, the only other worlds where I had the potential I have right now, were Earth-1610, and its alternate timelines, and the ones around it." I said "But, it's mostly the same, but I'm not one of the OGs, like I am over here. I'm usually a second generation superhero. Anyway, it's just meh."
"Basically, he thinks that they didn't push their hardest." Cindy said, and I looked at her surprisingly.
"I didn't say that, because I respect them, but yeah." I said, after a moment.
We got into the garage, and I saw Ben, Danny, and Kaine waiting for me, and I said "Ok y'all, wish us luck, we're going to train."
"Where to? And why can't we all come as well?" Tess asked.
"The Hand dojo." I said "And there's risk of mind control, and our plan is to do this, so we can develop a new martial art style, geared towards spider totems. So you will learn the majority of what we learn there, just wait."
"The Way Of The Spider!" Miles said, pumping his fist in the air. "Good luck, bro!"
"Thanks Kid!" I said, as I and the others got into the McLaren. We pulled out of the garage, and I said "So, what's our story?"
"We can't look like our actual selves." Kaine said "Pete's face is everywhere, and he doesn't have triplets."
"I am fine, aren't I?" Danny asked.
"Yeah." I said "You, and Ben, are fine. Ben is posing as me, but I don't know what to do about us two."
"Why can't you pose as yourself?" Ben asked.
"Because I can't give the harmless vibe you can." I said "You're a little more bubbly, and we're more serious."
"We can just make random looks, and random names." Kaine suggested.
"If we do that, we need to fabricate the cameras, so that our identities are seen with Peter Parker every now and then." I said
"Done." Sexi said from the speakers, startling us momentarily.
"Thanks sunshine!" I said "What are our names?"
"John Richardson, and Sam Alexander." Sexi said, the smirk in her voice obvious.
"I call John Richardson." I and Kaine said at the same time.
"How about I flip a coin?" Ben innocently asked from the back.
"No." We both said. I glared at him, then said "You'll make sure it lands on whoever you're more mad at right now, or choose one of us for fun. Danny, flip this coin." I handed him a coin. "I call heads."
He flipped it, then it landed on tails, then Kaine pumped his fist in the air, then said "Hah! I don't have to act like a Buckethead!"
"Can we just kick Ben out of the car, and have him go home?" I pleaded.
"Acting like him isn't that bad." Ben said, then when he saw my look, he said "Ok, it is that bad. Fine, I'm going home."
He made a portal, and as he went through, I genuinely said "Thank you, Ben. You're a lifesaver. I owe you one."
"Uncle Kaine, open the glove compartment, and you'll find a mask there." Sexi said "It's going to make you look different, and like John Richardson, Peter Parker's friend from school, which you have been going to for a while, and still will go to."
Kaine grumbled, then put the mask on, and it changed his looks, but his eyes were still similar. Huh, guess Dreykov had a point.
"Danny, last chance." I said "Some of the people there, are your mortal enemies. We're entering the lion's den."
"I'm doing this, for my people." Danny said determinedly.
I nodded, then we parked, and then entered the dojo, to see Colleen totally beat the shit out of ten of her students who were trying to beat her, but she was clearly not thinking of them as threats, and pointing out the flaws in their moves as they attacked. I sneaked a look at Danny, and saw that he looked totally in awe at her.
"He's already got the hots for her." Kaine whispered to me.
"Laugh my ass off, I know right?" I whispered back.
Colleen flipped one of her students off the floor, and said "You should've landed on your hands." Then she looked around, and when she saw that all of her students were on the mat groaning, she said "I went easy on you guys, no complaining." Then she noticed us, and said "Hello. To what do I owe the honor of having the richest child alive in my dojo?"
"The want to learn, possibly?" I said with a smirk "I could definitely last in a fight against you, but another style of fighting wouldn't hurt."
"Let's see your skills that you're so sure of." She said, gesturing at me to enter the ring. "What about your friends?"
"Danny is more of your type of fighter." I said, gesturing at Danny, as I got in the ring. I picked up one of the students, and put him out of the ring, and proceeded to do that with another, when I saw Colleen looking at me, wondering why I was moving them. "I don't want them getting hurt." I said, and her confusion cleared. "And John, fights similar to how I do." I gestured at Kaine, who was 'John'
The ring was cleared of the other students, and as we circled each other, I said "I'm going to use the moves I observed you using, then I'll move to the moves that I'm comfortable with. Testing my photographic memory."
She nodded, then I attacked her, and she dodged, and after a couple seconds, she said "You're using the moves I used almost perfectly, even fixing your stance. Well done."
"I kind of think that I deserve more than just well done." I said, then stopped going on offense. She took the bait, and went on offense, and I dodged the moves, analyzing her fight style. After a minute, I said "My turn."
I went on offense, not using my speed, but fixing all the minor flaws in the fighting style, and after moments, she was on the floor. She groaned, and said "I underestimated you. That won't happen again."
I gave her my hand, and said "That's what you think." She lifted herself with my hand, then said "How about your friend, Danny, wasn't it?"
Danny was clearly swept off his feet by her, and said "Yes."
"Well then, come on in." She said.
Danny got in, and they fought for a while, then Danny and her got into a standstill, and they both tapped out at the same time.
"Tie!" I said "So, Ms. Wing, what do you think? You can take us in?"
"It's Sensei Colleen to you." She said "I'm fine with you guys training under me, but unpack your egos at home."
"I will." I said seriously, with a respectful nod of my head.
"Well then, my intermediate class happens one Fridays, at 6 PM, come then." She said, then dismissed us.
With nothing else left to do, we left, and when we got into the car, I said "Well, that was weird."
"You said it." Kaine said, agreeing with me, then we headed home.