Chapter 38: Chases And Purrings
We made it back home from the Hand dojo, and when we entered the home, Tess said "You're back already? Kinda disappointing."
"Today was more of a testing bout." I said "We'll be going every Friday evening from now on, that's the level we've been placed at."
"Cool." Wanda said "And how do you think your night is going to go?"
I looked at her, in mock confusion. "What's so special about tonight?"
"Did you seriously forget?" Almost everyone said. "You've got a hot date!"
"No I didn't." I said, smirking. "I don't know, but however it goes, it'll go good, until it gets awesome."
"Your definition of awesome makes me ask what you have planned." Talia said, but she was smirking.
"Well, some stuff may have coincidentally come up, so don't worry about it when Norman finds out his research has been tampered with." I said.
"The killer of several people here, right?" Aunt May asked for confirmation.
"We don't need to worry about that." I said sharply, but everyone's looks at me forced me to reconsider. "Fine. Counting the kills other versions of him killed other versions of us, he killed about fourty-five percent of the people here. But only counting the kills that Thanos showed happening in the possible future, it's around thirty percent."
"I thought it was Sinister Six, not Sinister Three." Tess said "Why does he get one third of the kills?"
"Why are we discussing this?" I asked. "I know you guys need to know, but we still have at least three years till Thanos launches his first attack on Earth."
"Sorry." Tess said immediately. "It's unfair to force you to see it all again."
"It's fine." I said, although I most certainly wasn't fine, not that I'd say it. "Kaine, Ben, how about we go to the gym, and spar?"
They both nodded, and we went to the gym, and sparred for the next few hours, with no disturbances, until Wanda came to us, and said "Dinner time in twenty minutes, boys. Take a shower quickly!"
We stopped, and wiped the sweat that lightly covered our foreheads, then I quickly pecked Wanda on the cheek, and said "Thanks, Red."
"Don't mention it." She said, walking beside me.
I could tell she wanted to say something, but was trying to find the words, as well as the privacy, so I waited till we were in my room, then I sat down on my bed, and patted the spot next to me, and she sat down, and I sidehugged her, then after a minute, I said "Red? Did I do something wrong?"
"No." She said "No, you didn't. It's just... They were saying, that you usually are supposed to be the hero of New York City only, and here, you're being the hero for the world. Don't you think... You're dishing more than you can take? Not that I think you can't do this, I think any single version of you could probably do this, just not as well as you. I'm just worried, that we're going to go fight Thanos, or any other big bad, you only ever mention Thanos frequently, but we go to war with you, and come back without you. I just want you to stay safe, Petr."
"I could say many things, Wands." I said "I could lie, and tell you I know what I am doing, or I could tell you that it's going to be all right. But, the truth is, I don't know what I am doing, and it might not always turn out all right. Just the other day, I found out, that I didn't defeat The Inheritors, I just defeated mini versions of them, and the real show was just watching in the outer multiverse, and waiting for me. I nearly died fighting The Inheritors, and they weren't the real deal. Whatever does happen in the end, I'm sorry if I fail you, or don't come back."
"How could you fail me?" She asked softly. "I don't think you could. Even if you don't come back that one last time, you couldn't ever fail me. You're... I can't even find the words to express my feelings for you."
I rested my head on hers, which was in turn rested on my shoulder. "I'm sorry, Red." I said softly, my voice catching on itself. "I'm sorry I couldn't defeat The Shadow, or The Inheritors, I'm sorry I don't have what it takes. -"
"What are you talking about?" She said in Sokovian. "Tell me one time, you didn't do your best. And The Shadow doesn't count, nothing you did could've ever hurt him, and you probably did make him feel pain for the first time, knowing you. When you bashed The Inheritors skulls in, you gave it your best. You gave it your best, and Doom died at your hands. Even if you're fanboying, you're still giving it your best. Now, while we could continue talking, you are starting to smell, and I need to wash my hair. Let's go take a shower."
She got up, and I was still processing what she just said so I was still sitting on the bed, and when she was at the bathroom door, she looked at me, and said "You coming or not? I could wash my hair myself." Then she winked, and went in.
I jumped up immediately, and followed her in, because, obviously I wasn't going to say no to that offer. Within moments, we were both unclothed, and in the shower, and then....well, we had a good time, obviously.
Thirty minutes later, we came out of my room, (Was it even mine anymore? I basically had like only ten percent ownership if you divided it equally between all those that slept here.) and we headed downstairs, Wanda going a little slower than usual, which I felt equally proud and guilty of.
When we sat down at the table, Talia looked at me and Wanda, then she gave me a knowing smirk, and I gave her a shruggie.
Tess looked at our interaction, confused, then she shrugged, and said "Well, Pete and Ava. You ready for your feline experience? Tell me how it goes."
Ava growled at Tess, and said "Just cause you're stronger than me doesn't mean you're not insusceptible to poison, and you're making me really want to poison you."
"Actually, it does." Tess said, smirking "In case you forgot, Pete used to swallow cyanide tablets without a problem, and I still do so. And I can't help but notice, you didn't say you weren't heading out for your...affair tonight."
"I'm not going." Ava said, looking a combination of embarrassed and angry. "Now, could you please drop the topic of what Felicia was suggesting, and instead ask Peter what he has planned with her tonight?"
"Oh, so Felicia was suggesting something." Tess said, but then she turned to me. "What are you going to do with Mad Love Girl?"
"Don't call her that." I said, groaning. "And I just dared her. To try, and rob something from my office. I left it for her to rob, and she'll like the challenge, and the present even more."
"Aww, so cuuuute." Tess said, and I ignored her, and instead focused on eating. "He's wooing her! And giving her presents! And letting her do what she wants!"
"I thought Johnny was a pain, until I met you." Sue said, and Tess sputtered at that. "How does Peter even manage you? I get him loving you, but managing you? That's where you lost me."
"I'm not that bad." Tess said.
"The mess you caused the day I met you guys says otherwise." Sue sassed.
"Oooh!" Both me and Uncle Ben said, and Aunt May bit back a laugh, and I added "Need some ice for the burn, Tess?"
"Bug off." Tess muttered, and the rest of us spider totems chorused in unison "Spiders are arachnids, not bugs."
"Well then, fuck off." Tess said, but Miles countered that, saying "I haven't lost my v card yet, so I'm not leaving, and neither is virgin millennial."
"Could you not call me that!?" Tarts exclaimed. "It sounds weird, and doesn't even mean the intended meaning."
"As long as you understand, I feel I have done my job as your uncle." Miles said.
"Guys!" I said "We're losing focus! We're supposed to be discussing Tess here!"
We all looked at Tess, and she said "Go jerk off, you asshats."
"What happened the day you guys met?" Okoye asked.
"Well, I'll let Tess explain that, don't you think that works, Sue?" I said.
"I think Sexi can help her aunt, but I think Tess alone works too." Sue said, with an evil smirk.
"No, no, no!" Sexi exclaimed. "That was a mistake, and I admitted it, and apologized! Please don't punish me so!"
I and Sue burst out laughing, and everyone that wasn't around when we first met was just confused.
"What's wrong with them?" Cindy asked.
"Believe me, they should be laughing harder." Ben Grimm said, chuckling lightly.
"It's not funny." Tess said "I was acting stupid."
"Stupid!?" I burst out, laughing. "More like, the biggest idiot in the world! What did you even think would come out of that, I still don't understand."
"Enough teasing her, Peter." Aunt May said. "She was a kid then, and she's grown up since then, unsurprisingly."
"That she has." I said proudly.
"What happened the day you guys met?" Wanda asked.
"Well, I'll let Tess choose whether she wants y'all to know or not." I said.
"Don't bother." Tess said "I acted stupidly, and I and Sexi messed somethings up, and it's been fixed, thankfully."
"Oh, man." Shuri said "I thought I would get some more blackmail material on Tess."
"It's not blackmail material, if everyone knows it." I said, rolling my eyes amusedly.
"Good point." Shuri said, then went back to eating.
"Pete." Crystal said "When are you coming to actually visit Attilan, instead of blasting it open?"
"Your family is probably still nursing their injured egos over that." I said, smirking. "Blackbolt is too happy to sulk, but the rest, oh I can't wait till they just glare at me 24/7. What do you think about going this weekend, Diamond?"
"You really love my family, don't you?" Crystal said, smirking. "Their asses are still in the dust, and you lived several millennia. This weekend works perfectly. They're pushing me all the time."
"Oh, they're the best!" I said "But it'll turn out all right!"
"You don't know that for sure." Crystal said, but she looked optimistic. "I'm just saying, it might turn out I have to stay there. But I think I should be able to come back." Then she turned to the Wakandans. "What about you guys? Y'all going to come back, or not?"
"Well to visit, of course." Shuri said "This place is awesome, and I will probably pop up through my portal every day. But we have to go back home. I think Okoye wants to stay though, doesn't she?" Shuri looked at Okoye with a smirk.
"Leave her alone, Dudette." I said "But Okes, for real though, it'll be ok. I know you have to go back, and I can be there before you know it."
"But I won't be here before you know it." Okoye said "And before I know it, you'll sacrifice yourself. That doesn't mean I won't go, but I'm still worried."
"Hey, hey." I said placatingly, putting my hand on her shoulder. "I'll come over every day to visit, that cool with you? And I can spar with you on Friday evenings, just like it was supposed to be."
"It works, I guess." Okoye said, unsure.
"It's going to be all right." I said softly, then I resumed eating.
After a couple minutes, we all finished dinner, and then we just hung around the living room, until it was time to sleep, and we all headed to our rooms.
I fell asleep, talking lightly to the rest, and then a couple hours later, I woke up, eyes wide open, and barely managing to get out of the bed without waking anyone else up, then went to the bathroom, and washed my face vigorously, trying to forget what I just saw.
"Petr?" Wanda softly called out for me.
I looked at the bathroom door, and looked at her standing there, looking at me with worry. I was about to hug her, thankful that she was fine, but I held myself back, and said "I'm sorry for waking you up."
"That's not a problem, Petr." She said gently, walking to me. "I'm worried about you. Do you want to talk about it?"
I shook my head immediately, as the visions started coming back to mind again. I closed my eyes tightly to stop the tears, and shook my head again, and said "I'm fine, Red."
"You don't have to keep it to yourself." She said softly, hugging me. "It won't ever stop, Petr. Not until you defeat him. Just...let it go. We're here for you, all of us."
"I don't want to push you all away." I said "But I would be doing that if I rejected your help. Can you just give me a little time?"
"You're too good to have to be ruined by the world, love." Wanda said in Sokovian, looking at me tenderly. "I'm here for you, when you're ready."
Then she kissed me passionately, and I kissed her back, and we were like that for a while, then we parted, and Wanda said "What time is it? You have a hot date."
"That's what you're thinking about right now?" I asked, amused. "You're not thinking about me? I'm hurt." I put my hand to my chest in mock hurt.
"It's 1 AM." Wanda said, rolling her eyes amusedly at my foolishness. "You still have a while, and we have a planet or two to visit together."
"Which planet do you want to go to?" I asked. "I'm all yours for as long as you want. We have all the time in the world."
"No, we don't." Wanda contradicted me. "You have to meet Felicia in an hour - but you still have your magic so you can still play with time. You're amazing!"
"What I'm stuck on, is that you can't focus on us, and instead are focusing on Felicia." I said, stubbornly going back to the topic.
"Well..." Wanda said, gathering her thoughts. "If I do this, then when you have something planned with me, Felicia won't hold you back."
"Oh. My. God." I said, flabbergasted. "You're one of a kind, Red."
I thwipped her to me, and spun in the air, and she yelped lightly in surprise, and we teleported to her home planet, several thousand feet above the ground, and going down headfirst, and fast.
Wanda looked at me incredulously, and said "You couldn't have come here like a normal person, could you?"
"If I did that, you would be at least a million years older than you should be!" I said, grinning. "To avoid that, teleportation!"
"I meant actually telling me before you teleported us, idiot." Wanda said, but she was smiling.
We landed, with me making a totally necessary crater on the ground. "Was that necessary?" Wanda said "That's my home, y'know."
"And I can fix it." I said, putting my hand to it, and using whatever was left of my Celestial powers to fix it.
"I thought you lost your powers." Wanda commented.
"I did." I said "This is all that is left, but it is still very useful. I can stand a much bigger chance against the big bads."
"Worry about your own self, Petr." Wanda said.
"That's impossible." I said, smirking. "Now, what do you want to do?"
"Well, we could do a lot of things, but I think the first thing involves going to my house." Wanda said, returning the smirk. "Which is right behind those trees."
"I know." I said, carrying her bridal style, and going in the direction of the house. "I made the place, and chose where to land, y'know."
"I do." Wanda said "I just had to be a good host." She pecked my cheek softly.
"Well, you didn't need to." I said, as we entered the house. "Now what?"
"Really, Petr?" Wanda said, looking at me. "You're going to drag this out? To our room that you made, obviously." She rolled her eyes, but she was smiling.
"As you wish, milady." I said, with an exaggerated flush, and taking us to her room.
Several hours later, Wanda was exhausted, and asked for no more, then immediately fell asleep. I laughed lightly, and put a blanket over her, kissing her forehead softly, then went to the shower, and took a quick shower, then teleported back home.
I went to my room, going back in time so it was 1:30 AM, and wore my watch, then activated it, the suit covering me.
I headed downstairs, to the secret entrance, and Kaine was there, and he smirked, and said "I knew you would exit this way."
"I knew you'd know that, so I came here, to see you." I said, smirking back. "The life of being clone fam, amirite?"
"For real." Kaine said, suiting up. "Good luck on your first date."
"Uhh, one." I said, raising a finger. "This isn't a date. Two," I raised another finger. "I have not yet gone on an actual date yet, interesting. Three," I lowered all my fingers, but my middle finger, and said "Fuck you."
Kaine laughed. "You took all of the women, how can I?"
I smirked evilly. "You say that, but I could totally see something going on between you and that Widow, what was her name, Hiba, wasn't it?"
Kaine's face instantly reddened, and he sputtered, then said "That's not... There's nothing... What are you talking about?"
"Stop struggling, Kaine." I said, laughing. "It won't get you anywhere. She has a real cute name, by the way. Kiba is the ship name, can't wait to see the ship sail."
"That sounds weird." Kaine said. "No need for a ship name, and go to hell, please. I'll watch over the city, while you go on your date."
"It's not a date." I said, rolling my eyes. "And we both knew that you were going to do that, stop changing the topic."
"Whatever." Kaine said, then went down the secret exit.
I rolled my eyes amusedly, then followed after him, and by the time I was out, he was already swinging into the night.
I swung into the night, heading in a different direction, and finally landing on top of a building that was right across the Parker Industries Headquarters. I never took my time to appreciate the building, and I was taking my time appreciating it now. It was a beautiful building, with glass all over, and it looked similar to that one building MCUSM swung under, that had the place for valet dropoff, and the overhang, but it was much more majestic. The headquarters took a whole block, and it was actually four different buildings, but they were all connected to each other with overhangs, and as the buildings rose higher, they merged into one circular building, until the tip. The merging of the buildings were covered with Jumbatrons that had the Parker Industries logo in all its glory.
I sat there for a while, until my vambrace pinged, and I looked at it, and it said I had a message from Kaine.
~~~~~~~~~
Kaine
Took down another weapon deal.
Was it Stark weaponry again?
And was it run by Tombstone?
Yes to the Stark weaponry question.
I may or may not have run into Hammerhead though.
I'm grinning right now, in case you didn't know.
How was the fight?
Did you win?
How hard was his head?
Was there anyone else?
How's the interrogation going?
I'm trying to focus here!!
Sorry not sorry!
Two minutes later
Ok, I'm done.
I got all the intel I needed.
So they gave O'Hirn a suit, made out of adamantium, as well as gave him the serum that made Aleksei Rhino.
And as for Otto, Hammerhead never heard that name.
And Tombstone is some sort of superhuman.
Neither has he heard of Adrian.
Flint Marko, well, he was made into Sandman, but they haven't managed to make him follow orders.
Abner Jenkins, and Herman Schultz, well, they are a different story.
They caught you unawares, and got Hammerhead away, didn't they?
...
...
I'm waiting for an answer.
Well, at least I got the intel!
Nu-uh, I'm not hearing it.
I want to hear it.
Then you won't have me admit it in front of everyone again?
Deal.
Ok.
They surprised me, and escaped, taking Hammerhead with them.
Why, thank you for the intel!
...
I am going to show this to everyone over breakfast!
Oh no, you won't.
...
I can't delete the messages!
That's because I saved them!
Sucks to be you!
I am you!
Yeah, well, was I the one that lost a source of a whole lot of intel?
...
That's what I thought.
Whatever.
I'm going to save the world, while you go on your date.
Saltyyyyyyy.
😝😝😝😝
🖕
🖕
🖕
💀💀
Hiba is at home, and not in this chat.
And that would be weird
DON'T YOU DARE FUCKING FINISH THAT!
Fine.
Since you decided to be such a party pooper, I'm leaving this chat.
😤😤😒😒
Oh, and please give me the tracker coordinates.
~~~~~~~~~
I closed the messaging app on my vambrace, chuckling, then I focused my hearing on my office, and all the different paths to go to it, vents included, and I found Felicia twenty feet away from my office, in the vents, unsurprisingly.
I smirked, and mentally contacted her, then when we were connected, I said Hey Kitten! How's the hunt for your ball of web?
I felt her jump in surprise slightly, then she calmed down again, and said Asshole. Did Ava come to join us for our fun?
I chuckled. No, she didn't. Between me and you though, I wouldn't be surprised if she pops up in a hour or two.
Wouldn't that be fun? Do you have cat powers too, or not? I heard about your wolf powers, so I thought you might have cat powers too. I'm getting your spider right now, thanks for the thrill with those sensors!
I heard her land down on the floor of my office, then after a few seconds, I heard her gasp, and she said both out loud and mentally "A new suit! That's sick! And has Sexi! And oh my god! I can't begin to cover all of the things on this! Thank you!"
I didn't say anything, knowing that she would be coming to me, and after a few minutes, I was assaulted by a hug, and a whole bunch of "Thank you so much!"
I laughed, and got her off from on top of me, and said "It's all cool, Kitten. I thought you needed a suit, so I waited till now to get you one, and I hoped you'd like it. What do you think about it?"
"I don't just like it, I love it!" She said, jumping up. "Now, how about a good natured chase across the city?"
"You have a five second head start." I said, and she immediately bounded away.
"You even gave more spring to my legs on this suit! How is that even possible?" She said, bounding away in leaps and strides.
After five seconds were over, I chased after her quietly, catching up to her in a minute, not using my full speed.
She heard my approach, and jumped off the building she was on, shooting her grappling hook, and swinging away. "You thought!!" She called back to me.
"That's my move!" I complained, running beside her, on the rooftops. She looked at me and winked, and before I realized, I tripped over... Nothing!?!? How was that even possible? "You used your bad luck powers!" I exclaimed, as soon as I realized.
"You know what they say!" Felicia said, smirking at me. "Crossing paths with a Black Cat gives you nine years of bad luck!"
"Oh really?" I challenged her. "Well, do you realize you're talking to Karma, the epitome of revenge mixed with luck!?"
I leaped, and missed her by an inch, then landed on a wall, and leaped at her again, and caught her this time, and we both rolled onto a rooftop.
We both lay down on the rooftop, laughing, and Felicia said "Why does Karma have an upper hand over bad luck?"
"Because unlike simple luck, I got family." I deadpanned, and we both started laughing. When we calmed down, I said "Now, how about we break into Hammerhead's base?"
"What!?" She said, getting up slightly, so that she was in that one pose, where she had her body all resting on one of her arms, while her legs were still 'laying down.' The typical 'seductress on the bed' pose. "How'd you get that?"
"Well, Kaine ran into Hammerhead earlier tonight." I said "And I know myself well enough to know that he managed to put a tracker on Hammerhead before he escaped."
"Oh, nice!" Felicia said, flipping her hair, so that it was all resting over her shoulder, and I was trying very hard to focus on the conversation, rather than the teasing that she was very obviously laying on thick. "Where is the base then?"
I stood up, thankful that I no longer had to focus on her in her tight catsuit. I looked at my vambrace, and saw a message from Kaine, giving the tracker's signal. After looking at its current location, and looking at our current location, I said "About five minutes, southwest."
"Is it the typical warehouse, or is it a little less cliché?" Felicia said, then before I knew it, she had her arms slung over my shoulders, and she was looking at my vambrace from behind me. "Looks like it's less cliché. What's the move?"
"The move, is that we go there." I said, putting my spider legs around Felicia's back, basically buckling her up, and shooting a web at a nearby building.
"Ooh, real nice ride." Felicia whispered flirtatiously into my ear as we swung through the city, in the northwest direction. "That's a real strong arm you got. How long can you go like this?"
"Kitten, I don't know if you know, but once, I kept going at it, for twelve years straight." I said, turning my head slightly to wink at her.
"Oh, so you're really strong." Felicia said, purposely feeling my muscles as I swung smoothly. "Your muscles...feel different. Like, different from normal muscle."
"That's because my muscles aren't normal." I said "I explained my origin story to you, didn't I?"
"No, you didn't." She said "I've seen you dying, and heard a lot of things, but I still don't get what exactly makes you...you."
"Long story, it is." I said "Multiverses, a moody teen, and his dudes and dudettes, does it involve. Once upon a time, in a universe far, far, away, a moody teen, there was. Filled with comics, his universe was. Spider-Man, Black Cat, Black Widow, Inhumans, Mutants, among others, focuses of the comics, they were. Mere fiction, they were considered. Treated as though they were actual humans, they were not. -"
"Are you going all Yoda on me?" Felicia asked.
"Yoda, I am not." I said, smirking. "Ok, forgetting Yoda, lemme explain for real. And no one can hear, I'm connected to your comms, and no one outside can hear. So, there was a universe, with a moody teen. And the people of this universe, and multiverse, to an extent, were all considered fiction, and were read about in comics, and watched in shows, movies, and cartoons. So, one day, this moody teen, he gets bitten by this weird spider, and goes into this weird black mindscape. There, he sees the memories, of one version of a character from the comics, Peter Parker! And this world is different from the others he's read about! And then it ends, with this Peter Parker getting bitten by the same spider that he was bitten by! Then he meets that Peter Parker, and they find out that they're both going into each other's bodies! Then, they both get sucked out of the mindscape, and then this moody teen gets to see trillions upon trillions of lives of Peter Parkers, which were filled with sadness, and anguish, and generally sucked! Then he finds himself in the body of Peter Parker, in the first world he first saw, and that moody teen was me!"
"So, you're not actually Peter Parker." Felicia said "Then what's your real name?"
"Can't tell." I said "Shadow will just bleep my words out."
"And you're practically a fortune teller." She said "Because your comics had the events of the future chronicled, more or less."
"More or less." I said "It wasn't exactly accurate, and lots of things weren't correct, but I do use what I learnt there to help me. So yeah, that's my mental origin story. But in terms of physical, well, this body has this thing in it, called the Adaptoid Serum. It was made by mine and Cindy's parents to be able to stop Fury, when he got a hold on the Super Soldier Serum. So what the Adaptoid Serum does, is that it takes whatever blood or power thing it's been given, and integrates that into my body, plus an extra bit of power, that the original didn't have. So when I got bit by the spider, this body developed corded muscles, among other power bumps. It's basically the same concept as corded wires, to hold bridges."
"You should write all this stuff down." Felicia said amusedly. "But ignoring all that, why aren't we at the base yet?"
"Because we're going the wrong way." I said "To throw them off."
"Smart man." Felicia said "How long till we can break the place in?"
"Half a moment." I said, then teleported us to a rooftop across the base.
Felicia got off my back, and stood next to me, looking at the building. "Looks like some sort of penthouse."
"Yeah." I said "But this building, I seen it before, in the comics, as well as the shows. I can't remember its significance."
"Well, we'll learn its significance, won't we?" Felicia said "What's the plan?"
"Infiltration, then accidentally being caught by one of the goons, then some fun." I said, smirking.
"Oh, I like that plan." Felicia said "I knew there was a reason I wanted to do this."
She flipped in the air, somersaulting, and landing quietly on the house that Hammerhead considered his base. I was just watching her flip in the air with awe, and when she landed, she looked back at me, and winked.
I shook my head, driving the thoughts away, and jumped up in the air, going about three hundred feet higher, and landed quietly right beside Felicia with a superhero landing.
"Show off." Felicia grumbled, and I winked.
"Can't have you outdoing me now, can we, Kitten?" I said.
She pouted at me, but didn't respond, she just leaned down, and started making a hole in one of the glass panels. I leaned down across from her, and as she cut the glass with a laser, I held onto the glass with one of my legs.
"Y'know, I'd be lying, if I didn't know that this would be our version of a date." Felicia said.
"So this is a date." I said. I remember a conversation similar to this happened in the comics.
"Well, you didn't get us food yet, so I'd think you did very poorly." Felicia said.
"The date's not over yet." I said, winking, then I lifted the glass, and Felicia dropped in first, after ensuring that the coast was clear.
I followed after, crawling on the ceiling. It seemed we landed in someone's bedroom, and judging from the decorations, it was Hammerhead's.
I checked my vambrace, and it said the tracker was in a different place in the penthouse. Quickly, we went through all the drawers methodically, taking anything that could be of possible importance. In the end, we gleaned five USBs, several folders from OsCorp, and a bunch of funky pills.
I opened the vent in the room, and Felicia looked at me, then said "You realize I can't fit there?"
She crossed her arms under her bosom, highlighting her curves. I took a quick look, then I said "Good point. Guess we're going the old-fashioned way."
I listened for anyone outside the room, and heard two heartbeats, guarding the door, with guns. I opened the door quietly, and quickly webbed both of their mouths, then we knocked both of them out before they had the chance to give any sort of warning.
We pulled them in, then arranged them on the bed so that it would seem that they were sleeping with each other.
"We should've taken their clothes off." Felicia said "Then they would've looked like a cute couple."
"I'm fine, thank you very much." I said, smirking. Then we went down the hall quietly, till we found a room with computers. I hacked into them, four at a time, and uploading the information onto my suit.
After five minutes, I disappointedly said "Nothing much. Just some maps, that are useful, but not vital."
"I don't take kindly to intruders." A voice said from the doorway, and I turned to see Hammerhead, in all his rectangular head glory.
"Well, I don't take kindly to conmen, Book Head." I said "How's things going between you and Lonnie?"
"Big Man really wants you to be taken down for good, you're interfering in New York Crime too much." Hammerhead said "Now, that is becoming a little more difficult, what with your friends, so I thought, if you brought backup, why couldn't I?"
Beetle and Shocker appeared behind him, gauntlets raised, and aiming at me and Felicia. Immediately, I jumped, and blocked the sound waves from Shocker's gauntlets, while my suit automatically hacked Beetles missiles, and redirected them back at Beetle.
The sound waves hurt a lot, nearly popping my ears, but I acted as though nothing was wrong, and continued blocking the sound waves. I walked slowly towards Shocker, and said "Dude! You're vibrating the air! Then why are you called the Shocker? Shouldn't you be something like, I don't know, the Vibrator!?"
"Shut up!" Shocker said, increasing the power with which he was blasting me.
Now it was really starting to hurt, and I knew I would go to school with an annoying headache. I reached out, and grabbed the gauntlets with my hand, and crushed them.
"So sad." I said, as I knocked him out. "Those vibrations could've got you a girl or two."
I turned, and saw Beetle rushing at me, while Hammerhead was engaging Felicia, who was just dodging all his attacks, and using her bad luck on him.
"So how's it going, insect?" I asked Beetle, dodging his attacks. "Y'know, cuz you're a beetle, and beetles are insects."
Beetle didn't respond, just attacked me with even more vigor. "So no talking?" I said "That's cool, I get the vibe. Just so you know, us spiders, we eat beetles, and trap them in our webs."
I made a web behind me, and grabbed Beetle, and threw him onto the web, leaving him there, prone and vulnerable to any attacks.
Without another word, I left Beetle alone, and jumped onto Hammerhead's back, and he tried throwing me off, saying "Get off, insect!"
"Spiders are arachnids, not insects!" I said, annoying him even more with well placed light punches. "Your buddy Beetle is an insect, not me!"
I put two of my spider legs, on the ground, and used them to flip me and Hammerhead, and once we were facing the web, I let him go, and he flew in the air into the webs, his face in the webs.
"Ughhhh." Hammerhead groaned, trying to say something, but not being able to, due to the webbing that landed in his mouth.
"What was that, Hammerhead?" I asked, leaning down to look him in the eye. "The Big Man is going to get me for this? Well, I've beaten people that make him seem like a baby, so I'm not scared of his so called wrath." I looked around, observing the mess we made of the room, and the broken walls from the missiles, and the people in a circle with their phones out, recording the fight, and I said "Well, I've notified the cops, and you're going to jail, and I've already sent the recording of this fight to the news channels. When you come out of jail, because of Tombstone's inside men, you won't have the freedom you have now, because of your doings. Tell me, what do you want? Why, are you always being the second man to every dynasty of New York Crime? The Nine Families, Manfredi, and now Big Man? Well keep this in mind, and tell your master that I said this as well. I will make New York City safe, for people to walk in the middle of the night, and not be worried about rapists, or robbers, or murderers. That's not a threat, it's a promise."
The cop cars arrived, and the people made way for the cops, and I nodded at them, standing up, and I took off Beetle's armor, as well as Shocker's.
"Sir, we have to keep that, as evidence." One of the cops said.
"I think not." I said "If I give it to you guys, then pretty soon, when they get out of jail, they will take their suits as well, and I'm not risking that."
"Sir, the law requires that -"
"Does it look like the law is taking care of the mess here?" I asked. "Is New York City safe? Is it filled with organized crime, or not? Tell me, Officer. Does Hell's Kitchen exist, or not? Is it filled with the worst crime ever? What is NYPD doing about it?"
I was met with only silence, and I said "Exactly. Now, I'm taking these armors, and destroying them. And allow me to fix the mess."
I turned to the building, and the nanobots flowed out of my suit, and fixed the breaks in the walls, making it look better, and not like there was just a superhuman fight over here.
Felicia got onto my back, and said "Let's go, Karma."
I wrapped my legs around her, and jumped up, swinging away. "Well, where are we going to go eat?" I asked.
"Trying to impress, aren't you?" Felicia asked, and I shrugged.
"Says the person that was very obviously flirting with me." I said, winking at her. "What'd you think of today?"
"It was very profitable." She said. "I got a new suit, and a whole lot of upgrades, and we got a lot of drives, who knows what they have."
"They were in his room, so it might be... personal." I said, and we both started laughing.
"Oh shit." Felicia said, and I looked at where she was looking, and I said "No shit. We're dead."
I swung us to a lone figure on a rooftop, and I landed both of us softly, and said "Hello, Mr. Hardy. How's the reconnection to the world been going?"
"The world isn't what it was." He said simply.
"No, it isn't." I said "I remember the dinosaurs, they were actually pretty beautiful, they didn't have the chaos we have these days, it was a beautiful balance, even with the bloodshed."
They both looked at me for a few seconds, then Walter said "I keep on forgetting that you're one of the oldest people in the universe."
"It's very easy to forget." I said.
There was an awkward silence for a while, then Felicia said "Dad, why are you out here? Not that I'm complaining, but we had everything under control."
"Well, I think the fact that you're on the news, on almost every single news channel, is reason enough for me to check on you." Walter said.
"That's cool, but it was going to happen sooner or later, right, Karma?" Felicia asked.
"Yes." I said "As another of the budding superheroes of New York City, the internet was going to focus on you anyways. And it was fun, putting Hammerhead down."
"You put Hammerhead down?" Walter asked, surprised. "That man has been around since the 1970's, or earlier!"
"So?" I asked. "I've been around longer than that. But I wasn't around when he started."
"Or he never would have started." Felicia correctly surmised. "Now, what?"
"Now, it's about 4 AM, and we can go home, and I'll make my one of a kind pancakes, and we can eat."
"I got a better idea." Felicia said, with a glint in her eyes. "My home planet, with all its beautiful panthers, and cats, and jewelry. Breakfast there."
"That sounds awesome!" I said. "Mr. Hardy, see you later? Unless you want to come along with us?"
"I'm fine." Walter said, chuckling. "I've seen the place already, and I don't need to interject on your date."
"You already did." Felicia said, grumbling.
I wisely didn't react, or say anything, doing all it took not to laugh at the interaction, and Felicia got onto my back again, and I wrapped my legs around her, and I said "If that'll be all, then see you later, Mr. Hardy."
"See you guys later." Walter said "And use protection."
I rolled my eyes, and said "Seriously? That was just... Such an old unnecessary joke."
"Let's just go." Felicia said, glaring daggers at Walter. "I didn't think that this is what I'd get when you came back."
"Yeah yeah." Walter said in dismissal. "Have fun y'all, and Peter." He looked at me sternly. "Don't do anything you think I don't want you to do, you won't like the consequences."
"I'm scared!" I said sarcastically, playing with fire. "I'm not going to jump off a plane."
Before Walter had a chance to react, or respond to my words, I jumped off the rooftop, and teleported as we were freefalling. As we came closer to the ground, I used my repulsors, making us land smoothly, right in front of Felicia's home.
It was a pretty, majestic mansion, with a gate and walls, and the gate was guarded by the statues of two black panthers, crouching. When you opened the gate, you would be greeted by a beautiful fountain, like the one in Taj Mahal, and the house itself was black, with white pillars, making a beautiful contrast. The four corners of the house had white minarets rising to the sky, with black rings every couple feet. The door was guarded by the statues of two black cats, which were licking their paws.
"What'd you think of the place?" I asked.
"Well, for one, it was definitely over the top." Felicia said "Not to say I don't love the system, but yo! I wasn't expecting this. The animals are all beautiful, and the amounts of kittens running all over the place are just sooooo cute. Little bundles of joy, all of them. And the integrated systems all over the solar system, and the fact that I could change exactly how my star looked, and make it have varying amounts of black to contrast the white, and vice versa, was just amazing. All in all, I love the system."
"It would be unfortunate if you didn't." I said, smirking as I deactivated my suit. "Now, let's go, and have some food, some very good food, you only get this quality food off-world, Terra doesn't have food this good."
"Terra?" Felicia asked, as we entered the house. "And how long will it take to make the food? I am kinda hungry."
As soon as we entered, about a hundred kittens ran up to us, and I picked six of them up, one in each of my appendages, and I started rubbing their heads affectionately, Felicia doing the same with the kitten she picked up. "How's it going, huh?" I asked, patting one of them, and she gave me a content meow, and I laughed as I put her down. "About the food, it's probably already ready." I said to Felicia. "I had Spider-Bots make the food. And Terra is Earth's usual name across the cosmos."
We entered the informal dining room, to see several hundred Spider-Bots carrying the food to the small table, and interestingly, setting candles as well. "Weird." I commented. "I didn't tell them to put candles on."
"Oh, that's just a gift from me." Sexi's smug voice came from one of the Spider-Bots, as it lit the candles with its legs. "I figured you could use it, and there are two glasses of red wine as well, it's not like either of you'll get drunk from it, but set the mood, y'know?"
"Kaine called you for this, didn't he?" I said, sighing exasperatedly at my family's antics. "One day, I'll get all of you back, one day."
"I don't mind." Felicia said, deactivating her suit, wearing a very beautiful and revealing white dress under, and she smirked at my dropped jaw. "Am I overdressed?" She asked mischievously. "I can take this off if you want."
I hastily shut my jaw closed. "No, you're not overdressed." I said "Spider-Bots, could you all please do me a favor, and dress me for the occasion?"
Immediately, they covered me, and after a moment, they removed themselves from me, and I was wearing a black and white pinstripe shirt, a red tie, a blazer, and nice dress shoes. I put my hand out, and grabbed a rose which appeared out of nowhere, thanks to my Celestial powers. I put it in my buttonhole, then created a bouttonniére, and I looked at Felicia, who had a dropped jaw at me, and I smirked, and said "How the tables have turned. But now, may I?"
I gestured to the blood red bouttonniére, and Felicia shut her jaw, then said "Yes."
I carefully pinned it onto her dress, then backed up, and said "There. I think I did the job, what do you think?"
She inspected the bouttonniére. "I think you did a pretty good job. I didn't even feel a prick, well done."
"Well, I aim to impress." I said, pulling back Felicia's chair, and gesturing grandly. "Will you take a seat, milady?"
"You realize you're hosting me in my own home?" Felicia said, taking the seat nonetheless.
"Well, I'm more familiar with your house then you are." I said, taking a seat. "But all that doesn't matter, let's just enjoy the night."
"Yes, let's." Felicia said, then she took a test of the food in her plate, and she said "Mmm! This is awesome! It's practically melting in my mouth!"
"Glad you enjoy it." I said, taking a bite of the food in my plate. "So, what'd you think of Hammerhead? You fought him, I didn't."
"He was fun." Felicia said "Seeing him trip was so satisfying. And his punches were very hard, and he probably bruised me."
"Probably?" I asked, incredulous. "He definitely did, he has steel imbued into him somehow! Let me see."
I stretched one of my spider legs to her, and touched her torso, and used some spells to heal her, and she made a sound of relief, and said "That feels way better. Thank you."
"Your welcome." I said, looking at her worriedly. "You know, you could've told me before, I would've healed you without hesitation, immediately."
"Calm down, Pete." Felicia said, waving a hand in dismissal. "This is part of the job, and everything is ok. Now, I wanted to ask you something. How long did it take you to make this system?"
"It took me half a second." I said "But now, if I tried to make a solar system, it would take about a couple days, I don't have the capacity that I used to have."
"That's annoying." Felicia said "He left parts of your power with you, so you could just miss what was missing, and not be able to let go."
"Yeah." I said. "But even now, I doubt I could make a planet, it's really hard to make things, and it exhausts me, I don't think I have the mental capability to make a solar system, a planet would be possible, but leave me exhausted for a few hours."
"Sheesh, that sucks." Felicia said.
"It does." I said "But ignoring that, why exactly did you enroll into Midtown? Not that I'm complaining, just wondering."
"Well, at my old school, we had this test, and I did well on it, and next thing I know, that I've been given a spot in the best school in NYC, because I did good on a test."
"Nice." I said, nodding my head in appreciation. Then I realized something, and I said "Oh shit! I forgot to even visit them again! I'm such an idiot!"
Felicia looked at me amusedly, and said "I always knew that, but who'd you forget to visit?"
"Don't get surprised by this." I said "So, when I had to enlist the help of the other spider totems, I passed by a world, where the Peter and Felicia of that universe were expecting, and so I didn't get their help, and there was another universe where the Peter and Gwen of that universe had kids that did Spider-Manning with them, and I promised to visit after all was over. I forgot, I'll do it after school, before I head to HQ."
"Take me with you." Felicia said "I want to see another me."
"Ok, but those aren't the only universes I'm going to." I said "There's one more universe I'll be visiting, where Peter and MJ of that universe get together, and have two kids."
"Well, I'm in." Felicia said, as she finished her food, I finished mine a while ago. "That was good, now what?"
"Now, we have dessert." I said, and the Spider-Bots brought some cake, and we had it in silence.
We finished it, and stood up, then I said "Well? What'd you think, and what do you want to do?"
"This was a good first date." Felicia said, kissing my cheek. "And I think we can just change, then I'm going to sleep on the couch, cuz I don't feel like sleeping in the bed."
"Whatever you say." I said "Spider-Bots, give me a sick pajama set, please."
The Spider-Bots covered me, and when they got off me, I was wearing red fleece pants, with mini Spider-Men all over, in different poses. My shirt was blue, with a brick wall painted on the front, and the brick wall had a graffiti art of me, and under me, it said 'KARMA' in red lettering.
Felicia observed my attire amusedly, then said "Two can play that game, let's go to the living room, then I'm going to my room, and changing into my clothes, that you didn't buy for me, but you made for me."
"That's right, I'm too awesome to do any less." I said.
"You mean too lazy." Felicia said, as we walked towards the living room.
We entered the living room, and I said "It takes more energy to make clothes than to buy it."
"If you're not some super powerful person, then yeah." Felicia shot back, then she pushed me playfully to the daybed sofa, which I flopped onto, laying down on it. "Stay there, I'm coming in a minute, unless you want to see me."
I rolled my eyes, while trying very hard to make sure my thoughts didn't go in the wrong direction. "Get back before all the kittens take over the space." I said, cuddling the cats that already made their way to me.
Felicia smirked, and said "Not going to push them off for me? Not cool." She walked away, sashaying her hips on purpose, and my eyes were glued for a couple moments, then I shook my head. Felicia stopped at the stairs, and looked at me, then winked, and went upstairs.
I blinked once, then I just settled for rolling my eyes, and cuddling with the cats, and they gave satisfactory purrs.
A minute later, Felicia came back to the bottom of the steps, and said "Those are my kittens, not yours."
I didn't look up yet, I was just rubbing one their heads with a smile on my face. "Well, they like me more tan you, and who am I to say no to a cute kitten."
"Well what do you say to this kitten?" Felicia said flirtatiously, and I looked up to roll my eyes at her, but her outfit had my jaw dropping.
She was wearing a white silk robe that went all the way to her knees, which I did remember putting in her closet, and under it, she was wearing a cotton pair of black leggings, that had white cats in different poses. I did not remember putting that in her wardrobe. Her shirt though, I definitely did not put in her wardrobe, I was one hundred percent sure of that. It was gray, and had a comic like rendering of me and her, in our suits, kissing each other.
After a couple moments, I found my voice, and said "I didn't know fans made things that fast, it's only been a couple hours since we went out together, if I remember correctly."
"Oh, this was a favor from your daughter, which I'm extremely thankful for." Felicia said, smirking. "Well, she took my blood, so our daughter. Kaine helped with the exact depiction. Thank you, Sexi, and tell Kaine I said thanks too, please."
"No problem." Sexi said, and I looked at the direction from where her voice came from, and saw a Spider-Bot sitting there, and I rolled my eyes.
Felicia lay down next to me, and the kittens moved around, getting into more comfortable positions with the new weight on the couch, and I wrapped one of my arms around Felicia, and used the other to softly comb her hair.
"Feels good." Felicia murmured, cuddling into my chest.
"That's good to know." I said softly, then I kissed her hair tenderly.
I was very well aware of the Spider-Bot still sitting there, and I looked at it, and then Sexi said "Don't mind me, I'm not here, not really."
I rolled my eyes, but I did ignore her, and after a few minutes, Felicia fell asleep, but I couldn't bring myself to sleep, I was too scared.
After a couple hours, it seemed Sexi had enough. "When are you going to fall asleep? I want to take a picture!"
"Promise that when you take the picture, you're gone?" I asked, I didn't want to worry Sexi. "You leave, and let us sleep in peace."
"Yeah!" She said enthusiastically. "Promise!"
I fully relaxed, and after fighting myself for a couple minutes, I fell asleep.
An hour later, my eyes shot open, and I hugged Felicia tightly, reassuring myself, but making not sure not to wake her up at the same time.
Tears started flowing down my face softly, and I wiped them off as well as I could with my arm, not bothering to get up, and be farther than an inch away from Felicia.
I really wanted to get up, and assure myself that the others were fine as well, but I didn't want to go, and come back, and find Felicia gone, I knew that it was illogical, but Thanos messed with my head a little too much, I wouldn't be surprised if I sacrificed myself like Tony did in the MCU.
I stayed frozen in the daybed for a while, using Felicia's heartbeat as an anchor, and not moving a single muscle other than my heart and diaphragm.
After a while, I could hear Felicia's heartbeat slowly coming back to an awake rhythm, and after a minute, she woke up, and said "Hey Pete."
"Hey Kitten." I said, as if everything was fine. "Had a good sleep?"
"What happened?" She asked, looking at my face. "And don't tell me it is nothing, I can see traces of tears on your face."
Shit. Should have wiped that away, but I guess I had to say something now. "Memories, of things that happened, or might happen, depends on the perspective." I said, after thinking how to say it for a moment.
"Peter, the full story, now." Felicia said, leaning onto her arm, and the kittens that were with us started moving from the shift of weight.
"You're ok." I said, reassuring myself, as well as opening the discussion to another direction. "That's all that matters."
"Yeah, but if you don't take care of this head of yours," she said, tapping on my forehead with her fingers. "then you're going to go all cray cray, and then you're not going to keep us safe anymore."
That...was actually a very good argument. I sighed, and said "I'm already insane. But you did make a good point, so I concede the point. But..." I just sagged down from the mental pressure, and the kittens purred angrily at the sudden shift. I took one of them in my arms, and kissed its head, as tears started flowing again. "I'm sorry that I don't have the balls to keep you all safe." I said, after a minute.
"What are you talking about?" Felicia said, getting up, and taking her robe off, and throwing it on the armrest of one of the couches. "You killed some of your greatest enemies, and killed some of your friend's greatest enemies, what more do you want?"
She pulled me out of the daybed, and the kittens growled as well as they could because of the new shift in their positions, although it was more cute than scary, and I positively melted at their reactions.
I tore my eyes from the scene in front of me, and I looked at Felicia, then my eyes went down to the ground immediately, and I refused to look up at her, the guilt and fear was too much.
"Peter!" Felicia said, slapping my cheek, and forcing me to look at her. When she saw the expression in my eyes, she softened, and hugged me, then said "It's ok, let it out, let it all out."
I sobbed quietly, hugging her back, then after a few minutes, I got out of the hug, and said "I have to do something, wait here, or go wherever you want, have your breakfast, I'll be back in a minute."
I made a portal to a pocket dimension that I never entered since coming back to my time, and entered.
The portal closed behind me, and I was in a whole lot of orange nothingness, and I looked in the distance, and angrily went to the person I saw there.
I grabbed the person by the neck before they even noticed me, and I growled, showing my fangs, and said "Maker, I will fucking kill you, I've had long enough."
"You're too late." Maker said maniacally, struggling against my hand.
"You're in my hands, about to die by my hands." I said, but there was a flicker of fear in my mind. "I'd disagree with your opinion."
"I'm not Reed of Earth-313, Peter." Maker said, grinning. "I want you to kill him slowly, jackass fucking trapped me here, and messed my head up. I'm Reed Richards of Earth-1610, the actual Maker, but clearly not the superior one. Kill that jackass for me, as slow as you can."
I said nothing, just growled loudly, and threw him into the air, and impaled his head with two of my spider legs, and dug my fangs into his chin, angry at myself more than anything. I punched his body with all my strength, and it flew across the pocket dimension, and I went after it, and punched it, and kicked it, making bruises appear on an already dead body.
After five minutes of taking my anger out on the body, I grabbed it, and made a time portal back to my home quietly, and found Kaine.
He was sitting on the couch, and heard my heartbeat, and without looking at me, said "I thought you were at your date, but considering I can sense your presence in both places, I judge you're playing with time. I thought you weren't going to do that, but I'm not surprised that you did. How'd your date go?"
"Keep this until I come back." I said gruffly, and he looked at me, and his eyes widened at the body laying on my shoulder, and said "What did he show you this time, that you blasted its possibility?"
"Still possible." I said, dropping the body on the ground. "313 escaped, trapping 1610 in his stead. Don't bother with what I saw, I failed, that's all you need to worry about."
"Peter!" Kaine said, but I ignored him, and made a time portal again, landing back in the moment after I left Felicia, in the same place.
"I'm back, and I'm even more sorry than I was." I said, hugging her.
"Hey, hey, it's ok." Felicia said, hugging me back. "Let's have some breakfast, then we have to head for school, but I'm pretty sure we missed it."
"We can always go back in time, so we don't." I said. "In fact, right now, I can sense ourselves, sitting in school, at about 1 PM."
"I get to go back in time?" She said, smiling. "Count me in."
We parted, and headed to the breakfast nook, where there was already a plate of pancakes sitting. "I said to have that done before I fell asleep." I said in explanation.
We both sat down, and started eating, and Felicia said "Are you ok? Like, I know you're not, but are you feeling better?"
She put a hand on my arm, which was just on the table, I was eating with my spider legs, and she looked me in the eyes, and I lowered my head, giving the answer without saying anything.
I closed my eyes, immense guilt flowing through me, and said "My weakness is my family, and my family is paying the price for that."
"Peter." Felicia said. I refused to look at her. "Peter, look at me." Hesitantly, I looked at her, opening my eyes, barely able to see through the blur that was my tears. Felicia took a tissue, and wiped my eyes softly, clearing my vision. "It'll all be ok, you have your family. We're with you, all the way. C'mon, eat up, then we're going to your home, and eating again, then we're talking, and making a plan."
I nodded, and we ate in comfortable silence, and then we finished, and I made a time portal, and we walked through it, coming to the breakfast table, where everyone was sitting and talking, except for Wanda, she was not there, and I had a pretty good idea why.
"Hello everyone." I said, and everyone turned to look at us.
"Hello Peter!" Everyone said, with their own versions of my name, like "Dudette" and "Petey" and "Pete"
Kaine looked at me, and said "The package is secure, what do you want to do with it?"
I made sure my heartbeat's rhythm stayed steady, as I talked, I didn't want Tess, Talia, Cindy, Miles, Logan, Tarts, Sexi, or Ben suspecting anything. "Keep it, for now. I have no reason to dispose of it permanently, I can use it possibly."
"What package?" Wanda asked from behind me, and I turned to see her floating in the air with her powers.
"You're floating in the air." I said, with a smirk.
"Yeah, didn't feel like walking, I was just too lazy." Wanda said, as she lowered herself into her chair.
Nat and Death looked like they knew the truth, but they didn't comment and Nat just winked, and Death smirked.
"What package, Peter." Ben said, looking at me sternly.
"Jericho missile." I said, taking a seat. "Stark Industries' greatest missile."
"I call bullshit." Ben challenged me. "If it is the missile, then why exactly am I sensing your presence in three separate places across the universe at the same time? Surely some missile isn't that important, is it, Karma."
"Watch it, Ben." I said, glaring daggers at him. "Just because you're the one most like an actual Spider-Man, doesn't mean you can question me like that."
"Guys calm down." Miles said, putting his hands out.
"No." Ben said "I want to know, who did you kill since I last saw you?"
Everyone tensed at that, and I unsheathed my fangs, daring him to continue.
"I'm scared, Punisher wannabe." Ben said.
"People are eating here, shrimp." I said "You want to know, wait until we're done eating. You have no right to question me, and don't you dare call me a Punisher wannabe. We can discuss this, when my children aren't present."
"Everyone here has seen death, Dark Knight!" Ben said, standing up. "Are you too scared to tell us who you killed without having to?"
"Ben, stand the fuck down!" Kaine said "You don't know, what he sees, what he knows! And he killed the person he killed, to protect his family."
"So you're going to kill Max Dillon too, won't you?" Ben said "An innocent man, how low are you going to go, are you going to be Peacemakers?"
"I was never going to kill Max, Hero." I said "I was going to try and convince him, when he got his powers. And I killed someone last night, and it's none of your beeswax."
"I think it is." Ben said "You don't know the value of life."
"Ben!" Uncle Ben said. "Calm down! You guys can talk without fighting!"
But it was too late to deescalate things, I stood up, the anger in my face clear. "I was chosen to be king for a reason. I value life, such to the point, I take life, to protect more life. You want to know who I killed, fine!" I made a portal, and a body dropped through it, onto the floor. "Happy now?"
Everyone looked at the body, and some of them gasped at the state of the corpse, Ben included.
"So now you're mutilating corpses?" Ben asked, glaring daggers at me.
"Pete." Sue said, and I looked at her, guilt in my eyes, but not for the reason they thought I had it.
I lowered my eyes immediately, and said "I failed. I'm sorry."
"You didn't fail, Peter." Sue said gently, but she didn't know the truth, none of them did, except for Kaine. "He's dead, and gone. He won't bother you anymore. What's there to worry about?"
While Sue was talking, Ben was crouching and observing the corpse. He stood up, and said "You killed the wrong man, and you know that."
"I didn't kill the wrong man, I just didn't kill the main man." I said.
Everyone looked at us confusedly, not understanding what we were saying, and Ben was seething, and so was I. I took a deep breath, calming myself down, and said "This is Reed Richards of Earth-1610, the original Maker. The Reed Richards I captured and trapped, somehow escaped, trapping 1610 in my pocket dimension. My weakness is what's endangering you, and I'm sorry for that, extremely sorry."
"What happened?" Nat asked worriedly. "Are you ok?"
I looked at her with a bittersweet smile, but it felt more like a grimace. "I'm all right, for now."
Everyone was silent for a couple of moments, then I said "I'm going to blow off some steam, I'll be back in a couple minutes."
I walked out of the room, activating my suit, and made a time portal, going back to several minutes after I and Felicia went to her home planet.
Now that I was sure I could do this, the city would always be safe.
Whatever it takes.