Chapter 40: Floating Kingdom
The time went quicker than I expected, and before I knew it, it was Saturday morning, and I and Crystal were getting ready to head to Attilan.
I came out of the walking closet as I buttoned my shirt, and said "So, Diamond, you looking forward to see the family?"
Crystal sighed as she looked at herself in the mirror, applying some light makeup. "I'm looking forward to seeing them, yes. But what if I have to stay there?"
"Let me remind you, Diamond, you're not their heir or something." I said, leaning onto the wall. "I doubt that they will require you to stay there, but even if you do, remember, you're not that far from us, and if you want to, you can have Blackbolt put Attilan somewhere near, not that it changes anything, I'll be at your place the moment you call me, no later, but I can't promise that I won't be there earlier." I winked at her, and she smiled at me through the mirror.
"Well, guess I'm ready." Crystal said, after applying some light final touches. She turned to me expectantly. "How do I look?"
She was wearing a full sleeved black dress that had ties on the side, towards her waist, and and so did her arms have ties, showing her bare skin under it ever so slightly, and she was wearing some mascara, and dark red lipstick, that perfectly contrasted her hair and dress. "You look beautiful!" I said.
"I thought so, judging from how you spent a good minute looking at me." Crystal said, blushing slightly, but smiling as well.
"Can I not admire your shining beauty, Diamond?" I jokingly asked.
"You're the one that's going to be stealing all the looks, good sir." Crystal said, looking over me, then pressing a kiss to my cheek. "Oooh, and that's some real nice cologne you have on, it smells beautiful."
I looked down at myself, I was wearing a dark green full sleeved shirt, and a pair of black jeans, and white Nikes, with a black design on the side, and I switched the original design that had white laces for black laces, and I put my spider logo on the back of the shoes. "Glad you approve of my outfit." I said, smiling. "The perfume on me is an Arab one, it's called musk, very expensive, but not as well known, and has an amazing scent."
"The scent is what is probably waking me up from my semi sleep mode." Crystal said, lazily throwing herself into my arms, so that I would take her weight, rather than her having to hold herself up.
I chuckled, rubbing her back. "Portal or plane? Plane will give you a chance to take a nap, but portal will ensure that you go without getting back into a sleepy mode."
"What time is it?" Crystal asked.
"11:30." I said "What time did you tell your sister we would get there by?"
"Lunch, which is at about 12 o'clock." Crystal said "Let's just do the portal way, I don't feel like wasting brain cells thinking about this too much."
"Whatever you say." I said, then I made a portal, and we walked through, to enter the landing bay of Attilan, where the Royal Family were all standing, waiting for us, and the Alpha Primitives standing around as guards.
"Welcome back to Attilan, Spider-Man." Blackbolt said, and he looked actually somewhat happy to see me, but the rest of his family, well, they weren't looking too happy.
"An honor to be here." I said, as Lockjaw ran over to us, and started licking Crystal's hand happily. "Looks like Lockjaw missed someone."
"Of course he did, he's my beautiful dog that didn't see me for a long time, isn't that right, Lockjaw?" Crystal asked, and Lockjaw barked happily in response.
"Oh, c'mon, it's only been like three weeks." I said, purposely taking a lower guess at the amount time passed than what I thought. "He looks like he found heaven."
"Peter, it's been two months." Crystal said, looking at me amusedly.
I inwardly sighed in relief, I had originally thought that it was four months, and I was glad that I didn't say so, that would have turned into a small problem. Outwardly though, I showed surprise, and said "It's been two months? That... Is almost unbelievable."
"Yeah, well then you better start believing it, Web Head." Crystal said, punching my shoulder playfully, then she turned to Medusa, and gave her a hug.
"How was your trip, Crystal?" Medusa said, returning the hug.
"It was awesome, I met a lot of people, and I will definitely want to go back again pretty soon." Crystal said.
Medusa obviously suspected something from Crystal's tone, so she grabbed Crystal's shoulders, then looked her in the eye, then looked at me, then back at Crystal, and said "You guys didn't..." One look at Crystal's face gave Medusa the answer, I had properly guarded my expressions. "I thought it would take a little longer..."
"Seriously Medusa!?" Crystal said, glaring at Medusa, but the effect of her glare was greatly decreased by the blush sported on her cheeks.
"Tell me, how many weeks after you met him did the two of you sleep together?" Medusa asked teasingly. "One month? Two weeks? One week?" Crystal's face gave the answer, and Medusa said "That is way faster than I expected it to be."
"He was about to die!" Crystal said "He was walking towards his death, and he knew it! Now, ignoring the current topic, let's give Pete a tour of Attilan."
"I believe he already has seen all that there is to see of Attilan, but very well." Medusa said, then she turned to me. "We thought you were nearing your death, when we saw you fighting those beings, along with other versions of you. Are you alright?"
"I'm doing just perfect!" I said. "I mean, they may have kicked me quite the bit, but they weren't the ones who gave me the most pain since I last seen y'all."
"And who took the trophy of that title?" Medusa asked.
I rubbed the back of my neck. "We don't really...like to talk about who that is too much."
Embrace me, child. Shadow said inside my brain, and I mentally gave him the middle finger. He laughed, and made my hands start shaking from pain, and I raised my arms, looking at my hands as I tried my best to put them under control, but the pain was too much. This is merely the beginning of my Gom Jabbar, child. Make sure to keep your emotions next time. My eyes widened at that, the Gom Jabbar was from Dune, the radical novel by Frank Herbert. It was a box that targeted nerves of the hand, so that it would feel as the hand was being tickled, then it would rise to an itch, then an unbearable agony, and if this was the tickle, then I could totally wait for the agony.
"Peter!" Crystal said, trying to calm me, and holding my hands in an attempt to calm me. "What's going on?"
My hands were shaking so much, her hands were thrown off of mine. "It's Shadow." I said, still looking at my hands in fear, as the pain increased.
"What is happening?" Medusa asked, looking at my hands in a combination of curiosity and fear.
"Long story," I said, groaning "Just- Just w-wait it out."
I bit my lip in an effort to stop myself, but then my fangs came out, ripping my lips out, and I let out a scream of agony, that caused the clouds all around to dissolve, and the shockwaves could be seen spreading apart. The echoes went on and on, and I dug two of my spider legs into my throat, and the other two in my diaphragm, effectively ruining my voice temporarily. I dropped to the ground, using my spider legs to hold myself, and letting my arms dangle, as the pain continued to increase. The pain increased, then as if it was a switch, it all disappeared, and I looked at my hands for a moment as the pain was gone, but the shaking continued for several moments. I finally got control of my hands, and gave Crystal a thumbs up, saying that I was all right, and my body was healing, repatching the damage I had administered on my self.
Crystal looked at me worriedly, then said "Are you sure you are ok?"
I nodded, then made my hands form the shape of a diamond, and presented it to her, and she smiled, then fingered the hole in my neck tenderly, then got a napkin out of her purse, and wiped off the blood that was spilling away.
She rolled her eyes lovingly, then said "What stupid thing did you do now?"
I pointed to my shadow on the floor, then flipped it the bird, and Crystal said "Need you be so bold in your opinions?"
I shrugged sheepishly, and made some gestures with my hands and my watch to say, "for you, I will, anytime"
"Bold." Medusa said, smirking. I looked at her, sending an apology with my eyes, and she said "Oh no, it's not a problem, I've dealt with mute kings before. But who knows how far your voice went, there are still echoes of it, and it has been several minutes."
I looked at my hand, reassuring myself that it was back to normal, and I lifted my legs off the ground, walking with only my spider legs, and picked Crystal up bridal style, and she made a sound of surprise, then looked me in the eyes admonishingly, and said "Not now, Pete. You have to nurse your hands, not stress them."
After a whole lot of gesturing, I was able to send the message across that it was only my nerves, and that I wasn't actually physically affected.
"Then your nerves need to get a break." Crystal said.
I raised an eyebrow, then lowered it and rolled my eyes. "Where to?" I mouthed.
"I don't know, Medusa?" Crystal said. "Where we going?"
"The city was the original plan, but do you want to go to the city in such a pose?" Medusa asked.
"No, we don't." Crystal said, then got out of my arms, and I pouted at her, and she said "Stop being such a big baby on purpose, let's go."
We headed towards the city, and everyone looked curiously at me, the mute man that was clearly being respected by their king, and was walking on four appendages, and had a small hole in their neck.
We went on for a minute, then my body was healed, then I said "The looks are kind of different from the ones I get in New York. I like it."
"Cuz you don't always walk on your spider legs." Crystal said. "How does it feel to speak again?"
"This is kind of fun, not going to lie." I said. "And I didn't really miss my voice, it wasn't too hard."
We stopped in front of the palace, and the Alpha Primitives at the door made way for us to enter, and we entered, and I said "Need you guys torture them like that?"
"Torture who?" Blackbolt asked.
"The Alpha Primitives." I said "If you feel you want to work on science as a race instead of producing the lower class of your society, then I can give you nanobots. But I think you should let them go."
"Do you even know of the Alpha Primitives condition?" Karnak asked in a hostile tone.
"I do." I said, chuckling lightly. "They were created to do the less pleasing jobs of the Inhuman race, so that as a race, you could focus on improving your knowledge, rather than wasting manpower on cleaning, and farming, and guarding, and the such. They don't have sexual orientation, merely clones of each other."
"How do you know?" Gorgon asked.
"Don't bother." I said, leaving it ambiguous on purpose.
"Since you are so great and know what to do, care to tell us what you think we should do?" Karnak said.
"Give them a chance at living for real." I said "Give them a serum or something, that improves their condition into being normal homo sapiens. I can give you nanobots, they will be able to do the job of the Alpha Primitives ten times better."
"And what do you gain from this?" Karnak asked.
"I don't gain much, the Alpha Primitives do." I said "While the fact that your people will become dependent on my creation, it doesn't change anything, not really, I can destroy this place and bring it to ashes without infiltrating it."
"We would be willingly giving you our weaknesses, tyrant." Karnak said, and Crystal bristled at the name Karnak gave me, but I was unfazed. "We have kneeled to you enough as it is, there is no need to drop in front of you."
"Why are you calling him a tyrant?" Crystal asked.
"He has defeated us, and taken a tribute from us, and as long as he is around, we are forced to stand down, and only give our opinions, and we cannot act for the safety of Attilan unless he approves, and he has control over Terrigenesis." Gorgon said.
"I'm doing what I must, but you wouldn't know, because you aren't as old as me, and you haven't seen what I have." I said "Unless you are as old as this universe several times over as well, which you aren't, your soul doesn't have the essence of one such a being."
"If it weren't for the fact that the Princess has given you amnesty, you would have been dead three times over by now." Triton said.
"I've died more than sixty times, so I'm not too worried, you can try to kill me right now." I said, not worried at all. "Wait, say that again? Diamond? You're officially giving me amnesty?"
"As far as we are concerned, you are a threat to Attilan." Karnak said "Princess Crystal has placed you under her protection, and as such, we will not attack you. But make a wrong move, and you will face the retribution of the Royal Family Of Inhumans."
The atmosphere was tense, as they all waited to see how I would react, and Crystal looked at me in a way so as to say that it was my call on how to react.
I chuckled. "If that's how you want to play, then ok. So I guess you guys will want to keep me in sight wherever I go, or what, Blackbolt?"
"Yes." Blackbolt said "We have no way to know that we can trust you. Until you have earned your position, you must be under supervision when you visit Attilan."
Crystal looked at me apologetically, then said "I tried to convince them, but they just wouldn't have it. Sorry."
"You have nothing to apologize for, Diamond." I said softly, looking at her, then turned to Blackbolt . "What about Crystal? You realize that I will spend time with her, and that I don't want you intruding on us like that."
"I'll be going back with you." Crystal sad, in a voice that dared anyone to disagree with her.
Of course, someone disagreed with her. "Crystal..." Medusa said "It would be better if you stayed here, in Attilan."
"Medusa, I'm going, if this is how you want to play." Crystal said decidedly. "I'm not about to sit here, and not see the rest of my family, and friends that I made while I was away. You're making him and his allies enemies of Attilan, that are temporarily not attacked when I clear it up with you beforehand, without the ability to stroll the city normally. How do you think it is better?"
"He beat us to the ground, with no true reason." Karnak said "He sent his goons to intimidate us, and to give a glimpse of his power, then he came, and attacked without showing any mercy, and only to make us one of his fealties."
I rolled my eyes. "I think the fact that my sister was hurt was reason enough for me to use force, but ok. And Crystal has her future in her hands, not yours, or mine. If she stays, she stays, if she comes back with me, she comes back with me."
"Of course." Medusa said "Moving on, Crystal, what did you do out there? Did you have a good time?"
We spent the rest of the time well, eating lunch with the rest of the Royal family, and talking with them, although it was still a little tense, it seemed that everyone except for Blackbolt, Medusa, and Lockjaw were hostile towards me, Blackbolt was cautious of me, and clearly didn't trust me, but he wasn't going to fight me because I reached for a fork or something. Medusa was ok with me, more or less, and Lockjaw was cool with me, because Crystal was cool with me, and whoever Crystal was cool with, Lockjaw was cool with.
Eventually, it was late evening, and I stood up, and immediately they all tensed, and I said " Dude, I'm not bloodthirsty! I just got up, because it was getting late, and I would need to get back home pretty soon." I looked at Crystal. "Diamond, what's the move?"
"I'm coming with you, but there is a portal to my room here that I can use all the time right?" Crystal said.
"There is." I confirmed.
Medusa and Crystal hugged, then Crystal told Lockjaw to follow her, and after some goodbyes, some hostile and some not, I made a portal to the living room, and we walked through it.
Much to my surprise, we were greeted by basically the full family, even Tony and Pepper were there, and they were all looking at me like I lost it for the most part.
"Ok, whatever you think I did, I didn't do it." I said quickly.
"I disagree, photo evidence is helpful." Aunt May said, then pointed at the TV.
I looked, and saw CNN was on, and they were talking about how Spider-Man could potentially be a robot, as he was seen 24/7 for the past week.
"Not a robot, just a crazy dumbass." Tess said angrily once the news anchor finished speaking.
"Well, Peter, what do you have to say about this?" Aunt May said. "How many hours of sleep per twenty-four hour cycle have you been getting?"
"Plead the fifth?" I asked hopefully.
"Peter, we're here now, just tell them." Felicia said.
I sighed. "Half an hour to an hour per day, I usually measure by forty-eight hour cycles."
"You have a fucking army of superhumans right here!" Ava screamed at me. "We can all take turns, so that the city is always kept safe! You don't need to go crazy! We can go as a team, we can have some others go when we are at school, whatever! But you're losing yourself!"
"Uneasy is the head that wears the crown." I said simply. "Besides, this isn't going to affect me, I've run some tests and algorithms, and it says that if I take less than half an hour of sleep per day then I will start feeling discomfort."
"You can't have us worrying about you like that!" Ava said hotly. "How the fuck, do you expect all of us to be ok, when you are jumping around, killing yourself mentally! You're supposed to be at home, and take care of your girl that's pregnant! You can't just do this to us, you bastardo suicida!"
"She called you something in Spanish, you might have to fight for your life in a few moments." Luke said, sounding terrified, and Sam and Danny nodded in agreement.
We all ignored them. "Look, guys, it's all right." I said. "Nothing will go wrong, hopefully. You guys can join me, and patrol whenever you want, but unless you're a Spider Squad member, then don't patrol more than five hours a day, and if you're Spider Squad, then your limit is seven hours, and don't ask why I'm not limiting myself, I have more strength than you guys, and I'm doing this, staying out, and turning myself into a monster, to keep two promises. Tess, Aunt May, this is for you two. When we started, I promised you that I would do whatever I could to keep myself safe Tess, and I'm doing that. Aunt May, I promised to try my best to keep my sanity, that's what I'm doing here."
"At what cost?" Ava asked. "And you really call this keeping your sanity? What I see, is you hanging off the edge of a cliff, grabbing on with the tips of your fingers. Don't let go, none of us can stop you."
Ava's words reminded me of something very different, and I looked at Nat, seeing another version of her, looking up with a sad smile at Clint, and dropping down a cliff. I shook my head, dropping the memories, and said "I don't know, guys. What can I say? This is what I have to do, guys."
I went to the secret exit, suiting up at the same time, and just booked it out of there, not ready to deal with this stuff yet, and wondering why I couldn't have had a little longer.
Chapter 41: Ultimate Patrol
I left the house immediately, not willing to be confronted about my habits, and the fact that I was patrolling 24/7. I swung around, then sat on a wall, looking over the city, when a hot dog street vendor on the street below called me.
"Hey Spidey!" He called out.
I dropped down to face him. "Spider-Man reporting for summons, what do you require from your favorite vigilante?"
"I don't require anything, just wanted to know, how would you like me to make your hotdog?" He said.
"Well, that's really nice of you to offer!" I said "How about just a typical hotdog?"
"Ketchup, no mustard, got you." He said, moving and getting it ready. After a minute, it was ready, and he handed it to me. "On the house."
"I don't do on the house, sorry." I said, pressing a button on my vambrace. "There you go."
He looked at his screen's display, and blinked at it. "What the fuck?" He said quietly, still taking in the fact that I had just gave him $100,000.01
I jumped back up, going back to my resting place on the wall, and eating a bite from my hotdog, my mask automatically going apart to reveal my mouth so that I could eat.
"Mmm!" I said, enjoying the taste. "Please don't ever retire, bro!" I called back to the vendor, who had gathered his wits, and gave me a thumbs up.
I ate slowly, and I was halfway through with it, when my spider sense blared, and I jumped off the wall, a sonic blast landing in the spot I was a moment ago, making a dent on the wall.
I looked at the direction my spider sense told me the assailant was coming from, and I saw someone wearing a suit similar to Shocker's, but slightly different, with different colors, and designs, but the same powers, according to my HUD.
"Let me guess." I said. "You must be Klaw, right?"
My spider sense blared again, and I dodged three nets flying at me from above. I looked up, and saw a male with a purple and black suit, and with anti-grav disks on his feet, allowing him to float in the air.
"Oh, Wizard, fancy meeting both of you here!" I said, dodging the attacks they started raining on me. "Let me guess, you have a name? The Dastardly Duo? Because let me tell you, there are soooo many better - Oof!"
I was dodging their attacks, when another threat started coming from me from below, and I was able to dodge only the attacks coming at me from Klau and Wizard, but the attack from below, I had to take if I wanted to avoid magic, so I took the hit.
I flew into the air, going a couple of feet higher than Wizard, then I used my repulsors to stabilize myself. I looked down, and saw a cloud of sand flying up my way, and I jetted out of the way of the ton of sand made into a punch that came my way.
"Sandman too!" I said. "I must be a very special man, but I'm glad to tell you, I'm taken. Nice to know I'm appreciated though, for all of my hotness."
"Would you kindly be quiet, and let us finish our job?" Wizard irritatedly said, trying to blast me.
"Oh, so Big Man sent you to do this!" I said "So no team name, just a ragtag band of wannabe supervillains trying to kill me."
"I think we're more than a ragtag band, Spider." A female said, and I looked in the direction of the voice, to see a woman with a chain that had one of those spiky balls at the end.
"I'm scared." I said sarcastically, then I gave Klaw a mean right hook, knocking him out. "What's your guys' name?"
"Call us the Frightful Four." Wizard said, throwing some anti-grav disks, holding me up in the air.
"Dang it." I said, keeping it PG-13. I couldn't get out of this unless I used my magic, which I really didn't want the whole world to see. And I wasn't in immediate danger, so I could just wait it out.
Wizard gestured with his hand, and I was thrown to a wall, making a sizable dent in the wall.
Sandman came, and held down my legs, and I wasn't trying too hard, but I still got out of his grasp, but was met with the spiked ball Thundra had, which whacked me in my stomach, throwing me onto the wall again.
"Ooh, major damage taken!" I said. "If this was Pokémon, it would be my turn now, give me a moment to decide which combo I'll use."
Sandman punched my stomach again. "First we have to all get our moves in, right Klaw?"
Cue a sonic blast to my face, which I didn't bother to dodge, not in the mood to.
"Are you ok?" Sexi asked into my mask.
"Yeah, I am all good, thanks for asking, sunshine." I said "Just, mood. I don't really feel like not getting a whack to my head, so I'm getting one."
"Seriously!?" I heard Ava say. "And he says he still has some sort of sanity remaining."
"Hey, I know what I'm doing." I said "I'm just waiting for when-"
"Shut up, before I kill you." Ava growled at me.
"I have this under control." I insisted.
"Yeah, I don't really think that getting beat up is called having it under control." Ava shot back.
"What if I gave you proof that I had it under control, without even moving a finger, or attacking back? What would you say to that, huh, Cubette?" I asked.
"That isn't possible, you are saying that you won't make a move against them, but prove that you have things wrapped around your finger." Ava said.
"Look at my right hand." I said.
"What does your right hand have to do with- you somehow were able to keep the hotdog through the whole fight?" Ava incredulously said. "Then why are you just letting them beat you up?"
I listened, and I could hear her heartbeat, as well as two other familiar heartbeats coming my way, and I smirked.
"Why are you coming to put an end to my fun?" I shot back playfully.
"What?" Ava faltered for a moment. "You really need to ruin your hearing, I'm like five minutes away."
"No can do, Cubette." I said cheekily.
"Wait! What are you doing about the Frightful Four, as they call themselves?" Ava asked.
"They're all wrapped nicely around my tiny little pinky finger, and waiting for you to tear your claws through them." I said, ignoring all the hits they were giving me.
"As in, he is just sitting on the wall, and taking their hits for no reason." Sexi interjected.
"It's fun." I said, shrugging.
"Remind me to teach you the real meaning of the word fun." Luke said.
"Fun: Something lighthearted, enjoyable, and pleasurable." I said. "In my books, this definitely counts for all three, this is enjoyable, it is also comparatively lighthearted, and pleasurable."
"You will find that you need a whole lot of new equipment and clothes if you don't stop talking." Ava said threateningly.
I wisely shut up, then the hits from the Frightful Four paused, and they all were crowding around me, my heartbeat controlled so that it wouldn't be beating at all in their tech.
"Is he somehow already dead?" Sandman asked. "The other one seemed to be stronger than this."
"He seems dead to me." Klaw said.
"I do not detect a heartbeat, it seems that we were successful at fulfilling our mission." Wizard said.
"That's what you think." I said, chuckling. "Just you wait, you're going to get the thrashing of your life, and I'll just watch."
Sandman threw a punch at me, and I activated a forcefield that purposely backfired on me so that the punch would turn into a ball of sand surrounding my forcefield.
"You should have thought of this beforehand, Spider-Man!" Sandman said.
"Oh, but I did!" I said from inside the forcefield. "Nova, I want you to use all heat, no power, and bake this dude into glass as soon as you get here."
"We're already here." Sam responded, then after a couple moments, I heard Sandman groaning, then he stopped talking.
I enlarged the size of the forcefield, and the glass surrounding the forcefield cracked, and after a few moments, I deactivated the forcefield, and found myself surrounded by glass splinters, and Luke, Danny, Ava, and Sam were fighting the remaining members of the Frightful Four, and winning.
Then Klaw got a lucky sonar blast on Ava, and she flew off the building, and I jumped immediately, and caught her smoothly, ensuring that she didn't get hurt.
"I had it under control." She grumbled.
"Somehow, I doubt that." I said, torn between being relieved or angry. "Do you know why? Oh, because you were falling off a building, that's why!"
I set her down, then efficiently and quickly took care of the Frightful Four, webbing them upside down, stripped of their uniforms and armors.
"Sexi, clean the mess up please. The rest of you, let's go." I said, turning around, and swinging away, and after a moment, the others followed.
We went home in silence, the others wisely not saying anything, as my irritated vibe was very obvious, with how aggressively I was swinging, and the way I was going through the air like a torpedo.
As soon as we entered the house, Aunt May looked at us, and said "Why all the tension?"
"I had it under control!" I said. "I wasn't even using my magic, and even without using my magic, I would've taken them out in a split second!"
"But instead you were letting them beat you up!" Ava said, removing her mask.
"You, don't get to talk." I said, wagging my finger at her. "You nearly fell to your death. And don't, tell me that you had it under control, you didn't. -"
"Pete, take a deep breath, calm down, and take a step back." Luke said.
"Don't tell me to calm down!" I exclaimed, swinging to face him. "Try it, seeing someone almost die the way you've seen them die in several hundred other universes! And while it may not have been in the same fight, Ava falling down a building to her death is something I've seen more than enough times, so don't you dare tell me to calm down!"
"I'm sorry, I didn't know." Luke said.
"It's fine." I said.
"Peter-" Tess said, but I cut her off.
"I'm going to go to the gym, if any of you want, you can patrol for the next few hours, I'll spend my time in the gym." I said, walking up the stairs.
"Peter, wait, there's something else." Uncle Ben said.
I looked down from the top of the stairs. "What now?"
"Your voice." Crystal said "Everyone heard it, when you screamed earlier today, and now it's on the news, and no one knows what it is."
"Hmm." I said, I already had seen this coming. "Leave it ambiguous for now, I will discuss it next weekend, during mine and the Captain's meeting."
"You've already set the meeting up?" James asked.
"Yeah, but if he declines the invite, what can I say?" I said, shrugging. "Now, if that'll be all, I'm going to destroy the punching bags."
No one said anything, so I just turned, and went up the stairs to the Masque's Home, to the gym within it.
Two hours later, I was ripping into my 795th punching bag, destroying it within a second. I used my powers to remake the bag, and left it there, then sat down in a crisscross position, and meditated.
Thirty minutes later, I heard someone enter from the door behind me, and without turning, I said "Sorry for exploding on everyone like that, especially you."
"You were justified in your anger." Ava said softly. "What are you doing?"
"Getting better at my job." I said.
"What do you mean?" Ava asked, sitting across from me.
I opened my eyes. "There was a version of me, that was able to improve his spider sense to the point that you couldn't think about hurting him without him knowing. I aim to bring it to that point, if not better."
"Are you ok?" Ava asked.
"I should be asking you that." I said. "I just dropped a bombshell on you, you're probably still reeling from what I said."
"I'm...fine." Ava said. "While it was surprising, it's something that is bound to happen, especially with our professions."
"It happens a lot of times." I said, closing my eyes again. "We're fighting, all of us, the Ultimates: me, you, Luke, Danny, and Sam, and sometimes there are more to the team. Then we're outmatched, by the Goblin, or Doc Ock, or HYDRA, or the Sinister Seven, and I just see it happen."
"I fall to my death." She said, "Poetic, isn't it? That the same thing happens to Gwen?"
"Just the facts of being Peter Parker." I said soberly.
Ava nodded. "So, how about we go for a run, or something? Get rid of the tension that both of us are tightening our muscles over?"
"Fine by me." I said. "Do you want to break a place in, or something? I have a job long overdue, to take down the Bar With No Name."
"What's so special about this place?" Ava asked, standing up, and suiting up.
I stood up, and pressed a button on my watch, suiting up. "It's the place for all thugs and supervillains, yadda yadda."
"You trust that I will be able to do this?" Ava asked.
"I always trusted you, Ava." I said. "I know when my paranoia is rambling, versus when my logic is speaking."
"Nice to know you're back to normal." Ava said.
"I'm anything but normal." I said cheekily, winking at Ava.
"Shut up, you know what I mean." Ava said, punching my shoulder.
"Did you and Hunter work on your amulet?" I asked.
Ava frowned at the total 360, but answered nonetheless. "Yeah, it's totally fine. Why ask now…?"
"Kraven will attack sometime soon, now that you're out in the open." I said. "If you have balance within yourself, you will be able to achieve what your ancestors didn't, and defeat him."
"How do you know?" Ava asked.
"How do I know what?" I said, as we exited through the secret exit.
"That Kraven will attack?"
"I made a deal with him, that he wouldn't attack you, until you left SHIELD, but he didn't know that this would happen, you being off the grid, and being prepared." I said.
"Why didn't you take him down when you found him?" Ava asked.
"You needed to face your demons." I said. "He was the killer of your father, you deserve revenge."
"Thank you." She said sincerely as we swung through the city.
"It's not a problem." I said.
We made our way to the Bar With No Name, and we were crouched on a rooftop across from it, looking at it.
"This is their base?" Ava asked.
"Well, it's more of their launchpad." I said. "They just use this place as a break, then they go to their bases. Perfect place for Intel, let me tell you that."
Ava didn't say anything, she just nodded. "So what's the plan?"
"Sexi, close all my receptors." I said. "I'm going in blind, and deaf. I need to work on my spider sense, and this is the perfect way. Ava, you're going to come in from the back, and deal with them quickly, I'll attract their attention from the front."
"Are you sure about this?" Ava asked.
"Yep." I said "Best way to get better is to be forced to get better."
"I'm closing your receptors." Sexi said, and then my HUD shut down, and my ears and nose were cut off, ensuring that I couldn't hear at all, until my healing fixed me up.
I went down, and punched open the door, registering all the threats to my person, Beetle at one side, Shocker at another, and some random thugs all over.
I could sense their mouths moving, but I couldn't hear what they were saying, obviously.
Beetle sent several missiles at me, and I grabbed them, and let them go, making them all hit each other and explode, leaving a cloud of dust, which I walked through. Beetle started using his gauntlets to fire bullets at me, and I ran across the walls, dodging all the bullets expertly, and maneuvering around the crowd.
Shocker joined the fight, and started blasting at me, and I spun around all of their attacks, making it a point that not one of their blasts or bullets touched me even though it wouldn't hurt.
I started using my webs, and shot the bullets as they came my way, just moving for Shocker's blasts, but barely, the maximum movement I was doing was a twist of my hip, I was mostly just moving my arms or legs.
I started walking towards them, and they both instinctively moved away from each other, making my job all the more easier. I continued straight, then as they continued shooting at me, I jumped up, letting their attacks that were meant for me to hit each other, leading Shocker to have 6 bullets in his legs, and Beetle to be knocked out on the wall.
I "looked" at the direction of where Ava was watching me, open-mouthed, and I said "Even though I won't hear what you say back, what do you think?"
She opened her mouth to say something, but then it seemed like she stopped, and refrained from saying anything.
One of the thugs ran at me, and threw a punch at me, and I merely tilted my head, letting the punch miss me, then I grabbed the thug's arm, and crushed it, breaking the bone into splinters under my fingers.
I sensed the dude groaning, but I couldn't hear him, then several more thugs ran at me, and I expertly moved around them, tapping their pressure points with my fingers.
They all fell to the floor, groaning, and I said "Could've gone way harder, but ok, y'all can groan as loud as you want, I can't hear you anyway."
I sensed Hammerhead at the door, and I said "Couldn't be smart, and stay in jail, could you?"
He said something back, and I just shrugged, and said "Sorry, I am temporarily deaf, so I don't know what you're saying."
I waited for him to attack, and he did, rushing at me in his signature style, and I swung around him, letting him run past me like a bull in an arena.
He turned around, and tried to attack me, with no better luck than the previous time.
He continued trying to attack, with m÷ purposely dodging in a fashion that made him barely touch my suit, but clearly missed me.
Eventually, I had enough, and when he rushed at me again, I dodged, same as the other times, but when he touched my suit, I used my sticky powers to stick him onto me, and swung, then let go, swinging him onto a wall.
I sensed several other people coming at the entrance, but they were friends, so I didn't tense.
It was Luke, Danny, and Sam, and they were saying something, but I couldn't hear, so Ava went up to them, and cleared things with them.
When they finished, I said "Well, boys, while I can't hear you, what do you all say to a patrol together?"
I could feel their looks on me, asking me if I was crazy, and I shrugged, then walked out of the building, then I jumped up, practically flying, and landing in a badass manner. (Imagine one of those Wonder Woman jumps, where they clearly have a longer while till gravity brings them down, but they land anyway)
I crossed my arms, and waited for the others to come, and after a minute, they did, I said "Knew you'd come to your senses eventually."
They all growled at me, and I winked, knowing my lenses would show that, and I swung away, the others following me.
A few hours later, we all came home, tussling with each other, all of us fighting over a cookie.
"I did the most work!" I said, half-heartedly reaching for the cookie that was in Sam's hand. "I deserve it, mortal!"
"I'm sorry, but did you sweat at all!?" Sam said, trying to put the cookie in his mouth, but not able to because of us. "You weren't even trying, I was."
Luke snatched the cookie from him. "I'm definitely the weakest out of all of you, but I was keeping up with you, trying the hardest. Sorry, but this cookie is for me."
He was about to put the cookie in his mouth, but Ava lunged at him, grabbing him in a bear hug, and the cookie fell out of Luke's hand, and Danny caught it.
Danny was about to eat it, but then I said "Oh no, don't you dare." I said, then I webbed his hands, and grabbed my cookie. "Oh, sweet cookie, I will do you justice." I said, putting the cookie to my mouth.
Ava lunged at me, as Danny melted my webbing with his powers, and Ava missed me, and I said "Don't even try, gurl. You saw me earlier today, and that was while my ears and nose were cut off."
"Doesn't mean I won't try!" Ava said, lunging at me again, Danny coming at me from another direction with his unlit fist ahead of him, and Luke from another direction, and Sam flying at me from above.
I weaved my way in between them, almost like what Pietro did in Age of Ultron, letting them all crash into each other.
A second later, they were all in a pile, groaning, and Luke said "Why did we even think that dog piling him would be a good idea?"
"It was!" I said, taking a bite out of the cookie. "For me, at least. For your now aching muscles, not as much."
"I hate you." Ava growled at me, removing herself from the pile with a groan.
"Only temporarily." I said, as I went for another munch of the cookie.
As I was about to bite it, I heard someone say from the doorway "You won't give me a bite of the cookie you won? How unchivalrous of you."
I turned to see Nat, her baby bump starting to show, and I said "Of course not! Here, take some."
I gave her a bite of the cookie, then I said "How're you feeling?"
"Now that you gave me a bite of the cookie, better." Nat said, finishing the cookie.
"That was more than a bite." I said, raising an eyebrow at her.
"I don't hear you complaining, so it's all right." She said, "Now, what's this about you having your ears and nose cut off?"
"A project of mine." I said. "I'm aiming at upgrading my spider sense to the point where I can sense danger as the thought of danger comes to my possible assailant's mind. It's working so far, slowly increasing in potency."
"Nice." Nat said. "This cookie was really good, where did you get this from?"
"If I told you, it wouldn't be special anymore." I said.
"They do know we're still here, right?" Sam whispered to Luke, who just shrugged.
"On the contrary, it would become even more special." Nat countered. "Because I would know that you actually worked on your people skills, and went to a store, rather than make it with a snap of your fingers."
"If I made it, it would be so much more special." I said. "Rather than simple store-bought stuff, it would be high caliber quality that you couldn't find if you scoured the galaxy for it."
"Update, they don't know we're here." Sam whispered to Luke, who just nodded.
"So you're saying it would be special?" Nat said, quirking an eyebrow.
"Not as special as you, but special nonetheless." I said, tilting my head and smirking.
"Advice: we should leave if we don't want to be scarred." Luke whispered to Sam, pulling him out of the room, and after a moment, Danny and Ava followed them.
"That was too good." I said, laughing. "They thought we forgot they were there."
"Well, that is what we wanted, right?" Nat asked.
"Yeah, it is." I said, remembering that she asked to do this by blinking her eyes in Morse code. "What did you want to tell me?"
"Are you ok?" She asked, putting a hand to my cheek tenderly.
"Honestly, I don't think so." I said hesitantly. "Can't sleep, think, without something going wrong. I'm losing touch, for the world, for everything."
"Typical spy-der life, huh?" Nat commented.
I just nodded, as my eyes pinched with tears.
"Talk to Wanda, she's the best at this." Nat said. "And remember, you need to be here. Not just for me, but for us."
"I'm already feeling a little better." I said, smiling at her.
"There's the Daddy Spider I know and love." Nat said, then she pulled me into a kiss, which I eagerly reciprocated.