Chapter 45: Contaminated Water
"Yeah well I'm just saying, there could be other kids in between the ones Peter saw two weeks ago."
"Considering his luck, it's almost 100% possible."
"All the more nieces and nephews for me, I'm pretty sure I'll have at least 20 from Peter."
"Guys!" I said. "We're on a call, and it's been two weeks since that happened, and you guys are still talking about this?" I shook my head. "White, seriously?" I looked at her exasperatedly.
Whitney shrugged. "It's not like you won't have at least 20 kids, so why do you have a problem with me saying that?"
"I still don't understand why you guys are so… I don't even know what to call you guys."
"Your supportive sisters?" Shuri said from the hologram, she was on a video call with us.
"It's been two weeks, Dudette." I said. "You guys can drop this discussion now."
"I'm afraid that's not possible." Tess said, smirking at me.
"I'll just leave you guys to your foolishness." I said, leaving the three of them to talk to each other.
"Make sure you check on your baby mommas!" Tess called out as I left.
I rolled my eyes, then headed to do exactly what Tess suggested.
I found Nat in the mansion gaming room, playing a Spider-Man video game.
"Ok, when did that come out?" I asked.
"It's actually quite interesting." Talia said, swinging through the city with the video game Nat on video game me's back to deal with Rhino. "This came out yesterday."
"Hmm." I said.
Nat looked at me. "What did you do?"
"Nothing." I said.
"You're not even bothering to steady your heartbeat." She said, "Now, what stupid thing did you do?"
"Which company developed the game?" I asked, giving her a hint.
"Park- no way, you did not do that." She said, realizing.
"Capitalized off of myself?" I said. "Yes I did."
"Ingenious." She said, saving her progress and setting her controller down, and shutting down the console. She lay her head in my lap, sprawling herself across the sofa. "Your sisters are still at it?"
"Yep." I said. "It's been two weeks, and they still are talking about it. Whitney decided I was going to have at least twenty kids."
"Well…" Nat said, and I looked down at her incredulously.
"Not you too." I said, groaning.
"C'mon Peter." She said, "You're involved with nine women, with more than three others thinking about being with you, and there's two others set to be with you in the future, when you meet them. You're bound to have more than one child with more than one of us, and even if you don't, which is impossible, you would still have fourteen kids."
There was simply a moment of silence, in which what Nat had said to me was sinking in.
"Well, aren't you going to say something?" She said.
"Ain't no way this be happening." I said, surprised at the logic.
"Yeah well, it is." She said.
"Speaking of kids." I said, looking at my watch, and pressing a button to contact Sexi. "Sexi, what's up?"
"Nothing much." She said, sounding bored. "Hunter just got on a ship, he should be back in an hour."
"Why don't you come cuddle with us?" Nat asked.
"You sure?" Sexi asked uncertainly.
"You're losing the opportunity." Nat said teasingly. "As we speak, there is less area left on the couch."
"Say less." Sexi said, and she arrived moments later.
Talia sat up, making space for Sexi between me and her, and patted the space, gesturing for Sexi to sit there.
Sexi sat down, and we all cuddled up, enjoying ourselves.
"This is nice." Sexi said after a moment, sighing contentedly.
"It is." I confirmed. "Now why don't you tell me, how was your day? What did you do?"
"Scrubbed the internet, then I went patrolling with Uncle Kaine, talked to Logan, Ororo, and Emma. They're leaving tonight."
"Hmm." I said. "Nice. Now you guys want to watch something together?"
"Kung Fu Panda." Sexi said immediately, as the TV turned on.
"Don't tell me that's an adult movie too." I said. "Making Avatar more mature was good, but if they changed Kung Fu Panda, I would be very unhappy."
"Don't worry, it's a kids movie." Nat said. "I can't promise that it's the same as your one though."
"That's good." I said, and I created a blanket to cover us as we watched the movie.
Several Spider-Bots came in, carrying a large bowl of popcorn, and we took the bowl, then we started watching in silence.
Around an hour and a half later, the credits started rolling in, and the three of us stretched, and stood up.
"It's probably almost like five now, right?" Nat asked. "When's the X-Dudes leaving?"
"They just said tonight, they didn't say when." Sexi said. "And it's the X-Dude and X-Dudettes."
"I wonder how many kids he already has." I mused to myself.
"That sounds… interesting." Nat said, as we walked down the hallway to the living room/council room.
"It does." I agreed. "But once you get more familiar with the situation, it feels more like an annoyingly successful attempt at making your brain just want to shut down."
"That bad?" Talia asked.
"That bad." I confirmed.
We entered the room, and found everyone sitting around, or doing something.
Actually scratch that, everyone was doing something.
And for the most part, most of them were just causing chaos.
Actually, all of them were feeding the chaos.
Miles and Tarts were shooting webs at each other, Wanda, Jean and Emma seemed to be in some sort of mental battle, The Widows that were still at home were throwing knives at each other, Sharon was frisbeeing her shield, Bobbi and Sam Wilson were flying, (When did he come here!? I thought he was his family!) Ben and Kaine were in an arm wrestle, and in conclusion…
It was chaos.
"What. The. Fuck. Is. Going. On." I said, not understanding the chaos.
At my words, some of them realized my entrance, and sobered, which others picked up on, and eventually the whole room was back in order.
"Logan, you guys are leaving tonight." I stated, getting straight to the point.
I sense some surprise all around the room at my seemingly cold way of talking, but I ignore it, and focus on Logan.
"Yes." He said.
"Is there anything Charles requests of me?" I asked.
"He wants to know of any mutants you are hosting, and he wishes for them to join us in our return trip." Storm said.
"What were his exact words?" I asked.
"I believe it was 'Tell Karma that unless he wants to go at war with mutantkind, he will give us any information he has on us, and he will lower his barriers, and he will surrender those of us he has taken captive.'" Emma said. "But I believe the X-Men are no threat to you, so I ask that you ignore his words."
"Tell Uncle that I will not be seeing him until he apologizes to Petr." Wanda said, sounding angry.
I put a hand on Wanda's shoulder, calming her down. "Where's Erik?" I asked.
"With the Brotherhood, wherever they are." Ororo said, as if that were obvious.
"Did you not hear Charles?" I asked. "He said mutantkind, not X-Men. Emma, tell him I will talk to him."
She put a finger to her temple, then after a moment she removed it and said "He's ready."
"Good." I said.
I cast a spell, bringing mine and Charles' minds to a mindscape where we could talk.
"Xavier." I said in an even tone, greeting him.
"Karma." He said.
"Do you care to bring Lensherr here as well?" I asked.
A moment later, Erik appeared, and observed the bare surroundings, then he looked at me, and angrily charged at me
"You dare to keep my daughter against her will!" He exclaimed, rushing at me. "I kept my children away from the wars for their own good, and you brought them to the center of it!"
He jumped at me, but went through me as if I wasn't there, and he fell to the ground with a thud.
"Magneto, calm yourself." I said calmly, as he continued to attack my intangible form.
He paid no heed, and threw a punch at me again.
I caught the fist this time, and glared at him through my lenses.
"Erik, enough." I said, using my hand to push him, and force him to kneel in front of me. "Your children are safe. I have kept them safe from any major threats. Do you know where they were before I met them?"
"No." He said.
"HYDRA." I said, and he snapped his head up to look me in the eye.
Charles walked up to us. "And now you keep them." He said, looking at me angrily.
"You have no place in this conversation." I said, kicking him out of the mindscape
I turned back to look at Magneto. "Your daughter, she is fine."
"How do I know you are telling the truth?" He asked, standing up.
"Because I am the father of your granddaughter." I said frankly.
He looked at me sharply. "If it happens that you forced her…"
"I did not." I said.
"Very well then."
"Erik, can I ask you something?" I said, trying to speed up the whole process of him no longer being crazy about destroying homo sapiens.
"What do you wish to ask of me, homo sapien?" He said.
I rolled my eyes. "One, I'm not a homo sapien. Two, why do you have a thing against normal humans?"
I never truly understood this part. I understood why he was angry, but I never understood why he took it out against everyone.
"I would kill you for asking me such a question, consider yourself lucky that you matter to my daughter. Do not ask me such questions. Now, you will return me to my body, and I will deliver vengeance upon HYDRA for hurting my daughter."
"I already dealt with them. There is no trace of HYDRA left on earth, I have exacted revenge on them. The only thing left of them is in the hearts of men who are affiliated with them, but are in high places that I cannot attack. You wish to know who to attack, you will answer my question."
"You left them for me on purpose, didn't you?"
"I needed to satiate my curiosity, and I knew there would be only one way to get the information I wished for."
"You're not what Charles thought you were."
"No, I am not."
"I was a Jewish child during the Holocaust. I lost family, I lost friends. Just because we were different. And now, I see these people, they look at mutants like they are disgusting. They call for our deaths. They want us to be their weapons. I will not see what has happened to my people before happening again."
"Erik. You're a good man. But keep in mind, not all humans have it out against us. And have you seen how the world is reacting to me? The Army is seeking to rope me into their clutches. Most of the world is calling for my execution. The only reason I'm not getting shot everyday is because I have NYPD support, and because I saved the world, and because I'm officially under the protection of the two richest men in the world, as well as the richest and strongest country. I know what's going on, I do, trust me. But tell me, what of the children? What of the neutrals? What of the good people? What of those who would wish only what's best for you? Do something for me, Erik. Wear civilian clothes, and take a walk in a park. Observe the world of the powerless. You are angry, rightfully so. But you are only seeing one side. You see the side of the powerful meatbags. You see the side of those who are as dangerous as a pencil, yet they can destroy your life. You see the side of the irrational ones. Observe home, observe peace. Once you do that, I'll contact you."
"You are not like Charles."
"We've already established that."
"What may I call you by?"
I smiled, not that he could see it. "Call me Peter."
"Well then Peter, you may be right to an extent, but the good of few is many times outweighed by the evil of many. I hope you understand that."
"I do. But know this, Magneto. The world is made of balance. Just as your statement is true, it's inverse also stands. Many times, the good of the few do outweigh the evil of the majority."
"I am glad my daughter found her love in you. Till next time, Peter Parker."
I let my mentally created suit fall away, revealing myself in normal clothes, and I smiled at him. "Till next time, Erik Lensherr."
I shook his hand, and then sent the both of us out of the mindscape.
I looked at everyone, and said "Hey guys!"
"How was your dick measuring contest with Charles?" Emma asked amusedly, and several people snickered.
"Oh, Charles was never my goal." I said. "Wanda's father was."
Everyone looked at me with varying levels of shock, anger, or amusement. After a moment, Logan said, "He's at the mansion?"
"He is." I confirmed. "As of right now, he is storming out, probably because he and Spineless are disagreeing over me."
Logan snorted. "That's a new one, Spineless."
"He is." I said matter-of-factly. "The only spine he really has is Cerebro. Too bad that I will sabotage that in the past."
"What!?" The X-Men exclaimed.
"You heard me." I said. "When I go back to the past, I will sabotage Cerebro. Why do you think two of the strongest mutants are in this room, and were never picked up by Cerebro?
"Dad, you're crazy." Tarts said after a moment. "But I'm not surprised. I watched you do that."
"Let's go back." Ororo said. "I understand that Wanda is an Omega, but Pietro is most surely not that strong."
"That's because I'm the other Omega." Jean said.
"So, who else are you shielding?" Emma asked, intrigued.
"I've protected anyone under the water, or anyone in Wakanda. Added to that, Cerebro has no way to access Attilan." I said. "As well as any Omega, save a few."
"I take it, I'm one of the few." Ororo said. "Why is that?"
"I cannot give Charles free reign." I said. "You and Emma are meant to make sure that he does not go too far."
"What do you mean by too far?" Logan asked.
"Logan, do you know who you are?" I asked rhetorically.
He and Ororo stiffened at that.
"Exactly, you don't." I said. "Does Charles? Yes, he does. He knows all about you. But he keeps you from you."
"Are you doing anything different?" Ororo challenged.
"I am." I said. "I'm giving Logan the option. Should he want to, I will bring his memories back."
"And yet you already know who he is." Emma said.
"Yes, but not due to me going into his mind. I know from other sources. I know from my knowledge, not from his. But even so, I do not know beyond his name, and some of his history."
"What's my name?" Logan said in a whisper, as if he were afraid.
"Bucky, do you know his name?" I asked, turning to Bucky. "He was in the Canadian army."
Bucky looked for a second, then he said, "James Howlett."
"Correct." I said, turning back to Logan. "You used to be in the Canadian army, which is how you met Bucky, and the Howling Commandos. I know nothing else. It's all your call, Logan."
"Do it." He said with finality.
I nodded, and placed my hand to his forehead, casting spells and accessing his mind. After a minute, I removed my hand and stood back.
He shook his head to clear himself, and closed his eyes. Ororo put her hand on his thigh to comfort him, and Emma put her hand on his shoulder.
"Jimmy?" I asked hesitantly after a few moments.
He opened his eyes, and they were watery. "Thanks, bub." He whispered.
"You're not just an ally, Jimmy." I said, while internally screaming about how I was elevated to bub status. Judging from Emma's, Wanda's, and Jean's matching smirks, they knew that. I ignored that, and forced the squeal back in. "You're a friend. Now, are you going to head out to the mansion?"
The X-Men all looked at each other, talking to each other mentally. I didn't intrude on them, respecting their privacy.
After a minute, Emma looked at me, and said "We'll be heading out, if that's fine with you."
"Totally." I said.
We all stood up, and after we all gave our farewells, they all left.
A few minutes later, I found myself standing on my balcony, looking out worriedly.
Wanda came up next to me, and grasped my hand softly, and squeezed it. "What did you need to speak to my father for?"
"He's a good man." I said. "Only, he has directed his righteous anger in the wrong arenas. I seeked to help him."
"And?" She pressed.
"We'll see." I sighed. "It's up to him."
"And what are you worried about?" Wanda asked.
"I don't know." I said. "It's just a lot of apprehension, and I feel like I need to do something."
"You're thinking about the Goblin problem, aren't you?" She asked.
"I'm hitting dead ends, technology wise." I said. "He doesn't have a trace on the internet, or anything."
"And you're not taking the magic path because…?"
"There's no point. I know what he's doing, to an extent. Any information I want from him is hidden in a hidden base. There are three potential spots for said base; it could either be at Oscorp headquarters itself, or it could be in New Jersey, or it could be underwater."
"Then why aren't you attacking?"
"I can't go in uninformed, unless I go in with an army. There are many forms in which Gobby presents himself. In some universes, he is a man with a powerful serum that messes with his mentality, in others, he has a serum that turns him into a monster, in yet others, he is a mutant with wings and the ability to make globes of fire. In all of these, he is a threat that my counterparts have problems taking down."
Wanda leaned her head into my shoulder, and we stood there in silence, enjoying the quiet, and the light wind.
"You're a good fanboy, by the way." Wanda commented all of a sudden, making me groan.
"I thought this was silent bonding time." I said.
"How's 'bub' status?" Wanda teased, jabbing an elbow at my ribs.
"Not as good as 'Petr' status." I admitted, placing a kiss on Wanda's hair.
________________________________________
Two weeks later, I was in front of Atlantis, floating in the water, and requesting the guards for permission to enter. The guards admitted me, and I went to the Great Hall, and saw Namor.
"Well, you could've just texted me, but it's nice to see you again." Namor said, giving me a handshake.
"Yeah, but when it involves a mission that is underwater, I'd rather see you in person." I said.
"You want to attack Attuma?" Namor asked with a quicker eyebrow. "I mean, I understand that he's a rival, but he's not necessarily an enemy."
"This doesn't have anything to do with Attuma, thankfully." I said. "Remember what I was telling you about, that Goblin?"
"His base is underwater, and you wish for my help." Namor said, understanding immediately.
"That, and I needed to ask you something unrelated." I said.
"What about?" Namor asked.
"They'll have to go for this." I said, gesturing to the guards at the door.
"Leave us." Namor said, dismissing them.
As soon as they closed the door behind them, I said "Black Tide."
"How do you know of such old tales- of course, from that other universe you're from." Namor said, then he sighed. "What would you need them for?"
"Nothing." I said. "But the beings they're bonded with, I am one of them, in a way. I am one of the few beings that resemble the power of their king."
"So what did you need to discuss about them?" Namor asked.
"I just needed to ensure that you knew about this, and I wanted to clear this up before anything bad could come out of it." I said. "The war that involves them should not come for at least a decade, if not more."
"May I ask who the war will be against?" Namor asked.
"Their king." I said. "I fought against him before, and lost."
"That Knull dude is their king?"
"Somewhat. His subjects rebelled, and had him trapped in a stasis of sorts. One day, some of his followers will reawaken him."
"Understood. So for now, no need to worry about it, and we attack Goblin."
"Yeah. You mind bringing more than just the two of us? We don't know what we're dealing with."
"Who will come?"
"You'll see." I said, smirking.
________________________________________
Me, Namor, T'Challa, Tony, Antonia, Sam Wilson, and Sam Alexander were sitting in the briefing room of a ship, suited up.
"How's this for a team?" I asked.
"It has a good lineup, honestly." Sexi said from our tech. "Dad and Namor count as heavy hitters, Tony is the tech guy, Antonia is the martial artist, T'Challa is the stealth master, Sam Wilson is the eyes in the sky, and Uncle Sam is the blaster."
"Yup." I said. "So, we all know the plan, right?"
I received nods from all around.
"Good." I said. "Complete your objectives, and I wish you the best of luck."
Then I opened the door of the ship, and jumped out, diving towards the entrance to the base, an obscure underwater building.
I dived into the water, and zoomed downwards, ending up right on top of the base, and floating there. Wait, does it work like that? Is it floating underwater, or is it staying still underwater? Ehh whatever.
I went to a spot in the wall where my powers detected a weakness, and I tapped at the spot, weakening it even further. I made a forcefield around myself and the wall, and made a portal in the forcefield, draining all the water inside the bubble.
I tapped the weakness again, and a hole opened up for me, which I used to enter. I cast a spell on the wall I sabotaged, and it reverted back to its original condition.
I made a portal in front of me, and the rest of the team sans Sam Wilson came through.
"You know your jobs." I said.
They all nodded, and we each went a different way.
I walked down my hallway, slinking quietly and feeling my spider sense tell me that the occupants of the base were aware of our intrusion.
I felt it as someone was following, and I felt his intentions as he followed me, waiting for me to fall into his trap.
As soon as he thought that he had me cornered, his hand went to his sheath, and he threw a knife at me with deathly precision, heading towards a pressure point in my higher back that would immobilize my body, if I was a typical person.
Even though it wouldn't affect me, I caught the knife anyways, grabbing it with my spider leg and swinging it back at him, landing it in his knee.
Or at least, that's where it would've gone, if he hadn't dodged the attack.
I turned around to look at my assailant. "Kraven?" I asked, slightly surprised. "Why'd you do this?"
He was no longer the hunter he used to be, now he was a cross-specie, like the Kraven from the Spectacular Spider-Man.
"It wasn't my option." He said, rushing at me and missing, obviously. "But far be it from me to reject strength."
"This isn't strength, this is cowardice." I said, punching Kraven in the stomach and throwing him into a wall. "You're the greatest hunter alive, you shouldn't need this to beat me."
"Even though you are similar to me?" Kraven asked, somehow nearly landing a clawed hand on my arm.
"I'm more than just a simple cross-specie, Kraven." I said. "I'm a Totem of Anansi."
Kraven paused his attacks, and looked at me. "You are from Mother Africa?"
"No." I said. "I am only the one he and his older brother chose."
Kraven growled, and got on all fours, crawling at me slowly. "If that is so, then there is only one way to take you out."
I made Tao Mandalas on my spider legs, and unsheathed my stingers. "Why do you want to fight me, Sergei?"
"To go back to normal." Kraven said, and he jumped at me, but then instead of landing at my face, he somehow lunged down, and wiped at my legs, making a small cut in the fabric.
I kicked him at a pressure point on his chest, kicking him away and giving me breathing space. "I can do that for you, Sergei. You just need to give the word. I can undo it."
"And how would you do that?" Kraven asked, not attacking me, but at the same time ready.
"You have totemic energy." I said. "I can push the energy out of you."
"I never said you can do that." Someone said from behind me.
I turned around. "I wondered when you'd show up. But is it really you?" The skip in the heartbeat told enough. "No need for guises, Smerdyakov. Show yourself."
Smerdyakov changed from being Norman Osborn, to being himself. "How'd you know?"
"Not enough laughter." I said frankly.
"Brother, why are you not attacking him?" Dimitri asked.
"Why aren't you?" I shot back amusedly.
Kraven growled at me. "Do not speak to my brother in such a way."
"Apologies." I said. When Kraven nodded, I continued, "Do we have a deal, Kravinoff?"
Kraven nodded, and I cast a spell, pulling the totemic energy out of him, and reverting him back to being a normal human. Well, he still had whatever other enhancements he had before becoming a cross-specie, but he no longer had lion genes.
"Dimitri, stand down." I said, when I saw that Dimitri still wanted to attack me.
He didn't move, but didn't stop me when I passed him, and as I went onwards, I heard them leave through their ship.
Eventually I reached my destination, the lab. Sexi and Namor were able to recreate rough blueprints for the base, by sending sonar at the base, and keeping note of the response sonar. Now that I was here, I was able to use my hearing to guide myself better, and so I was able to go to my objective easily.
I opened the door of the lab, and took note of the lone heartbeat within, that was just beyond the corner. "How goes it, old friend?" I called out.
"Good, until you came." An anonymized, voice said
"Octavius, I take it?" I asked, readying my arms.
"Why, yes it is." They said, the quiet whirring of four arms and a full suit humming along. "What said so?"
"I had a hunch." I said, going around the corner, ready to face Otto.
I take that back, I meant ready to face Olivia.
"Livie!" I exclaimed, opening my arms as if to hug her. "How's it going?"
She looked surprised, and removed her anonymizer. "You know me?"
"No, I don't." I said. "I know… of you?"
"I see some tech resembling mine, so I'd suppose you read my plasma research." She said, as her four arms were joined with several more.
"Woah, you're really a Dr. Octopus." I said, as I flipped around, dodging all the arms heading my way.
As the arms passed me, I observed them closely, trying to note weaknesses. After a moment of looking, I realized electricity would do nothing. Her arms were running off of Parkerium, and would just absorb any electricity given.
"Huh." I said. "You're talking about the Parkerium in my suit. Gotta admit, we didn't know that you made this. If I'm to be honest, he actually thought that he was the first person to create the element. Hence the name, Parkerium.
"Someone out there discovered the plasma?" Olivia asked, her attacks faltering slightly.
"Surprised?" I asked. "Sexi, I'm going to come into contact with the arms. When I give you the go, hack at the arms. Don't make your move until I give you my say so. Keep in mind, I said at the arms. They'll have an AI that's possibly as strong as the Masque, if not stronger. Copy that?"
"Copy that." Sexi said. Then a pause, and then, "But what do you mean by in contact?"
"You'll see." I said, flipping backwards, twisting to dodge all the arms.
Olivia's attacks rose back to their original speed, and the amount of arms continued to multiply, giving me less breathing space, and forcing me to be cornered.
I flipped backwards again, aiming at reaching at an arm behind me and ripping it off, but ten arms wrapped around me, one for each of my limbs, and one each for my torso and neck.
"Please don't tell me this was your plan." Sexi said.
I didn't respond.
"Pete, you are dumb." Nat said in my comm all of a sudden, making me groan.
My breath continued to shorten, and I did nothing to stop it.
"Dad, you're losing your breath." Sexi said cautiously. "At this rate, you won't be able to say anything in a minute."
"I... know." I said. "All… part... of… the… improvised… plan."
Olivia tightened her hold on me, drawing all the air out of me. Then with the several arms she had by now latched around my neck, snapped it.
"Dad!/Peter!" Several people screamed into my comm.
But because I planned for this moment, I did not die. In fact, I improved.
Under my mask, my eyes were closed. I opened them, and heard several gasps in my comm.
They were white.
Chapter 46: Back To The Past
Previously on A Different, Superior Spider-Man…
I opened my eyes, and heard gasps in my comms.
My eyes were white.
…
In a flash, I ripped all of Olivia's arms off of her, and put my hand to her suit, and screamed "Now, Sexi!"
Several seconds later, Olivia's suit powered down, and I tapped her on the head and knocked her out.
Unfortunately, my body went back to its normal state immediately, and I wasn't able to make this easier on all of us.
"Fuck." I said. "My plan was to finish all of this at once."
Now now, what fun would that be? Father said in my head.
"Go away." I muttered.
"Peter, who are you talking to?" Sue asked.
"No one." I said. "Just thinking too much."
"Really?" Nat asked. "Because it didn't seem like it."
"I was talking to Father." I said.
"Oh." Sue said.
"Yeah." I said. "Now I'm going to advance. Comm silence, please."
I went back in the way I entered, feeling for any traps.
I found my way to the hallway that we all used to enter, and everyone else was already there. "Everything went according to plan?" I asked.
"I met Electro." Sam Alexander said. "It was too easy. He's knocked out right now."
"Did you just say Electro?" I asked.
"Yeah?" Sam said, unsure.
"What the fuck?" I asked. "Last I checked, Max Dillon was still a normal human. He works at Parker Industries."
"Surprised, Webhead?" Someone asked from behind me, and I turned around, and unleashed all my stingers and claws.
"Gobby." I said. In this universe, it seemed he would be the monster, with wings and the ability to control fire, plus a glider for whatever reason I don't even know, but his soul felt familiar. "Why does your soul feel- oh shit."
"That's right, oh shit." He said, looking at me gleefully. "How nice to see you again, after all this time."
"I killed you!" I exclaimed. "You were the only kill I ever was happy about! You were-"
"C'mon Peter." Goblin said. "You can't think you were the only one who could have lived through their death so long ago."
I knew I wasn't going to get out of here without a fight, so I said, "Everyone, get the information to the main base."
"But-" T'Challa started to say, but I opened a portal under all of them before they could say anymore.
"Peter!" I heard from my comms.
"Oh, does @%#%!% have people he cares about in this universe?" Gobby said gleefully. "How amusing!"
"Fuck off, Gobby." I said, seething.
"Yeah, no." He said. "How about this?"
He ripped the walls off, and threw them at me telekinetically. I just managed to dodge the sheets of metal, and I was on the wall, glaring at him.
"Peter, who is this?" Felicia asked.
"He's the one I told Shuri about, the scary one." I said, then I went on the offensive.
I jumped off the wall, and started casting magical webs, binding spells, and spirit weakeners.
He struggled for a few moments, and I took advantage of that and started punching him in the face repeatedly, putting Tao Mandalas on my hands each time, so as to put more force into my punches, and each time I punched him, the Tao Mandalas broke.
I picked up my speed, going as fast as I did when I faced Morlun all that time ago, the day I died.
Then it seemed that Goblin had enough, and he roared, then ripped all his binders, and started punching me with the same ferocity as I punched him.
We were exchanging blows at the same speed, and not even bothering to dodge the other's punches as we just aimed at the other.
"Last I remembered, you were faster." I grunted out. "What happened?"
"This is the fastest I can go." He said.
All of a sudden, two portals opened, and Ben and Kaine came out of them, and joined the fight.
We were starting to defeat Goblin, when he said, "This was good and all, but I have some other stuff to do." Then with a puff of dust, he disappeared.
"Fuck!" We all exclaimed, punching the ground.
"Is it that bad?" Wanda asked.
"No." I said. "It's worse."
________________________________________
We were all gathered around the council table, with the Wakandan members of the family holographically present. We were all frowning, and my brothers and I looked almost petrified.
"So let me get this straight." Namor said. "That was some dude who very nearly beat you up during your big fight?"
"Yes." I said.
"My only question is this." Miles said. "How did you two not know of this?" He looked between me and Death.
"I didn't get a breather after I thought I killed him." I said. "I didn't have the chance to make sure he was dead."
"Ok, what about you?" Miles asked, looking at Death.
"Oh, he died all right." She said, with a dry chuckle. "That's the thing. He died. But it wasn't like the normal deaths. He fell further than me. He kissed me fleetingly, then he died in this universe."
"So the rumors are true then." I said, calculating.
"What rumors?" Tess asked.
"That there is another Web." I said. "They used to say there are two webs, the Web Of Life, and the Web Of Death. If I'm to guess, he is the center of it. Isn't that right, Father?"
Everyone looked at me as if I was crazy, but I just gave them a look as if to say I know what I'm doing.
Sure enough, he responded. You are correct, Son. He said in my mind. I'll tell you something added to that. The two Webs come together to form the Web Of Life And Death.
"And that is what Anansi controls." I thought out loud.
"He actually talked to you?" Jean asked, intrigued.
"Yeah." I said. "Even gave me a bonus hint. Both webs come together to form the Web Of Life And Death."
"Well I'm not that knowledgeable about these things, but I think I should ask, who are the Totems of the other Web?" Aunt May asked.
"If I'm to guess, Goblins." I said. "I sensed some multiversal energy I didn't sense in him last time, and I wouldn't be surprised that if I traveled to another universe, the Goblin of the other universe would have the same energy, albeit fainter."
"Ok, what will we do about this?" Ben asked.
"There is no 'we'" I said. "I'm going to deal with this, and I won't be held back by any softies."
"So you'd let Harry lose his father?" Ben asked.
"Oh, cry me a fucking river!" I said. "I don't do the pity bullshit. I don't know if you remember, but there was something about me going back in time with Goblin. That won't be happening right now, so I will break the news to Harry before it happens."
"You've got to be kidding me." Ben said. "You're Peter Parker, for crying out loud. You don't kill. You're the hope of the city. You're a fucking savior, not an executioner!"
"Gotham wasn't as quiet as it was when Red Hood returned." I said.
"Yeah, because he took control of the underground dealings!" Ben said.
"And?" I asked. "It worked, if it hadn't been for Bruce poking his nose where he shouldn't have! I can't risk Norman, especially with how he bonded with whatever that was."
"Ben." Aunt May said. "What do you think Goblin wants?"
"He doesn't really want anything." Ben said after a moment.
"Exactly." Aunt May said. "He just wants to bring chaos. How many people will die?"
"No one will die, if we try our best." Ben said, not budging.
"Hmm, and you tried your best when the other version of me died, and when the other versions of Gwen died, right?" Aunt May asked, putting a hand on her hip.
"That's not… I did." Ben said.
"And did people still die?" Aunt May continued.
"Yeah." Ben said. "But that was different. We weren't as experienced."
"Ben." Uncle Ben said. "This is your responsibility. You put that mask on, because you have to. Everyone out there," He largely gestured to the outside vaguely. "Is your responsibility. And every time one of them dies at the hand of a villain, all three of you feel guilty. If you kill Goblin, none of them will die at his hands."
"We have to do this, Ben." Kaine said. "One way or the other, we have to destroy him. And from there, we take control of the other Web. And from there, we get to the Inheritors."
"...Ok." Ben said. "Just this time. But if we find a way to take him down without killing him-"
"We won't take it." I said. "He's just going to take the serum again, or something. When it comes to Osborn, it's better to just stay on the safe side, and you know that."
"Fine." Ben said. "Where do we start?"
"To Karn." I said.
________________________________________
All of us Spider totems of Earth-313 were present at Loomworld, along with Peter Parker of Earth-616 and Karn.
We were all seated in our respective thrones, and I placed my blade in its sheath that was in the throne, and I said "What do we have, Karn?"
"Very little, my liege." He said. "My family lurks at the Web Of Life And Death, and the Goblin sits in his place at the Web Of Death. He is using it to mask his position, but I am able to get a general sense of his position."
"What is the bond he has?" I asked.
"It seems that there was a spell placed on you." Karn said. "The being from long ago, took the spot of being your nemesis. Then when the Goblin emerged, and they seemed to both be your nemeses, they bonded, and this is the current condition you are in.
"Hmm." I said, thinking. "So where was the thing in between then and now?"
"He was sitting at the throne." Karn said.
"Then why didn't he attack?" Kaine asked.
"He couldn't." Karn said. "He needed a form, and the only form he would be able to take would be a nemesis of yours. But due to this, he is only able to reach the highest physical speed of his body. Although that does not do much to his aura, it is still as strong as ever."
"Where is he now?" I asked.
"He is entering Oscorp." Karn said, after a moment. "But he is in his civilian state, and he is looking at me, as if to dare you."
I stood up, and touched the Web, drawing energy from it, and seeing through it.
I looked Norman in the eye, and he looked back at me, sitting in his office with a manic grin.
I raised my hand, and my blade came to my hand, the hilt resting within my fingers.
Norman smirked, and raised his own hand, and the glider came to his hand, and he morphed into his Goblin persona.
I felt a little person hug my legs, and I looked down to see Rachel.
"Don't die, Dad." She sniffed out, hugging my legs tightly.
"I won't, Jellybean." I said, picking her up and kissing her forehead quickly.
"I'm waiting." Norman said, his voice somehow reaching us through the Web.
I put Rachel down quietly, and looked back at everyone else, and gave a quick nod, which was responded in the like.
I looked at my brothers, and we all gulped slightly, then walked through a portal.
I cast a spell as soon as I entered the room, causing the whole room to go out in a controlled explosion.
Goblin rushed at me, and backhanded me, throwing me out of the building, and I used my repulsors to stabilize myself.
Moments later, both my brothers came flying out of the building, and they stabilized themselves, then Goblin came out, flapping his wings and holding his glider in his hand, and turning it into a double bladed sword.
"Ooh, this'll be fun." He said, grinning at us.
"No mercy." I said. "Combo moves, no dog piling."
My brothers nodded, and we all flew around Green Goblin, surrounding him.
"I'm scared." He said sarcastically.
None of us responded, opting to prepare ourselves for a whole shitload of pain and struggling instead.
Goblin rushed at me, raising his blade in an overhead blow.
I raised my own blade quickly, and our blades clashed against each other, making a large boom, and causing soundwaves to travel through the air, which pushed Ben and Kaine back.
I grunted against the force that he was putting into the blade which was pushing my blade dangerously close to my head, and I stuck my spider legs to my blade, and started pushing back even more.
Unfortunately that did no more than make sure that the blades didn't go any lower, and I grunted angrily.
All of a sudden a web attached to Goblin's blade, and it was wrestled away from him, into the waiting hands of Ben and Kaine.
I took advantage of his defenselessness, and quickly used my blade to attempt to slice his lower body straight off, which didn't work, as his skin was too strong.
But the blow still benefited me.
"Aaahhh!" Goblin screamed. "It burns!"
I dug my blade even deeper into his skin, and he screamed even louder, and I noticed that he started changing back to his human form.
Before I could properly react, he was back to being Norman Osborn, and he started falling to the ground, and I looked at him hesitantly, and watched as he fell to the ground.
"Aren't you going to catch him?" Ben asked.
"Look at his hand." I said simply.
His right hand was open, as if calling something to him. Once he was about twenty feet away from the ground, it was obvious.
His blade flew out of Ben's and Kaine's hands, and went straight to his, and he used it as a pole in the ground to break his fall, and he turned back into his Goblin form.
"Luckily this area was already cleared." Kaine commented as we dived downwards.
I didn't respond, and the three of us landed in front of Goblin, in an eerily similar fashion to when Thanos fought Cap, Ironman, and Thor in Endgame.
Goblin grinned, and slammed his blade into the ground, causing a Shockwave that threw us back several feet.
"Your Father told me all about you, Peter." Goblin said evilly, and my eyes widened in surprise, then narrowed in rage, and I charged at Norman with a roar, Ben and Kaine following me.
Norman spun his blade parallel to the ground, and I slid under the blade, going in between his legs as I used a spider leg to hit his groin, while Kaine jumped above, and grabbed at Norman's head, while Ben gave a well placed kick to Norman's side, causing him to stop spinning his weapon.
I attempted to dig my blade into his back, but he flapped his wings while backhanding Ben, causing both of us to get thrown back.
I landed on a wall, and sprung back at Norman, while Kaine started screaming into Norman's ear, nearly blasting all of our ears apart by the strength of the sound.
My feet connected with his back, while Ben's feet connected with his stomach, causing him to grunt in pain.
In a flash, I handed Kaine my blade, and he dug it into Norman's neck, attempting to go through the tough skin.
"Enough!" Norman screamed, and his hand stuck into some dark portal, and pulled out a weird rectangular thing that looked kinda like a rock.
Kaine immediately dug deeper into Norman's neck, while Ben threw Norman's blade away, and Ben and I dug our claws and stingers into Norman, our recent trip to the Web Of Life causing him more pain.
Norman roared in pain, and squeezed the rock, which caused a shockwave that threw all of us off of him, and he temporarily reverted to his human form, but before we could regain our breaths and try to attack him, he reverted back to his Goblin persona.
He grinned at us, and walked towards us, calling his blade back to him, when all of a sudden he frowned and looked up. "I didn't want any nuisances." He said.
Then several portals opened, and Miles, Tess, Cindy, Julia, and Peter Parker of Earth-616 came out, and rushed at Goblin, which did no good as he just swiped his hand, and threw them all away, somewhere in the sky.
"That was a big mistake." I said, looking at him angrily.
"Well, I'm the one who's winning, so I wouldn't say so." He said manically.
"You won't be winning for long." I said, as we all charged at him, and slid and jumped around his spinning sword.
The three of us were using whatever if the Way Of The Spider that we had already compiled, and so far, it was working. He didn't get any hits on us, and we were bruising him and making him bleed all over.
But clearly, Parker Luck always has a hand in these things, and he just squeezed that rock again, and we were all blasted away.
The rest of the Spiderfam came, all of them, except for Felicia, Natasha, and Wanda.
I looked at them hesitantly, then I nodded, and said "Spiders inside, everyone else far, no one dies."
They nodded, and everyone charged together, but I held Gwen back.
"What?" She asked, looking at me.
"I'm not risking anything." I said, and she looked confused for a second, then she glared at me through the mask.
"I'm not a baby." She said.
"What will I say to your dad if…?" I asked, not being able to voice my thoughts.
"They're all very nearly dying, and you want to talk now?" Gwen asked, gesturing at where everyone was struggling, and fighting Goblin.
"Fine." I said, and I jumped into the fight, Gwen following.
It was all a blur, all of us trying to take him out, Ben trying to get the rock thing out of Norman's hands, Kaine doing the same with Norman's sword, I was holding Norman's wings, and everyone else was weaving through us, giving him blows, and weakening him.
He roared, and spun, throwing all of us off.
Except for one of us.
"Peter, would you look at that!" Goblin exclaimed, holding Gwen by the neck. "Poetic, isn't it?"
"Fuck you." I said, and used the Time Stone to freeze him, but he was anticipating that move, so he used his dark magic and his rock to stop the attack.
Thankfully, that was all the distraction I needed, as I slid through, and kicked his solar plexus, and his right arm, then yanked Gwen out of his now weakened grip, and flew up with her in my arms, setting her on a rooftop.
"He's aiming for you." I said.
"Ok." Gwen said after a moment. "I'm not going down."
"I love you." I said, and quickly pressed a kiss to her cheek, then jumped backwards, and dived right onto Goblin, making a crater.
Ben and Kaine both immediately wrapped their spider legs around his legs, while grabbing at the weapons in the hand closest to them, while I grabbed his wings with my spider legs, and used one of my hands to dig my stingers into him, and the other to press my sword into his temple.
The other Spider totems all came around, and started dealing blows to him, none of them staying at one spot, and weakening Norman even further for us.
"Can I use my Venom Blast?" Miles asked, as he dealt an uppercut to Norman's jaw.
"To his dick, with a good kick. Everyone else, move back for a moment." Me and my brothers all said at once.
Miles did exactly that then he jumped back and started zapping other sensitive spots, like his knees and ankles, and first Goblin howled at the kicks, then he roared as the electricity coursed through his veins, passing on to us as well, and we all gave a light groan.
All of a sudden, the rock in Norman's hand started glowing, and Ben said "Shit! This is the Siege Perilous!"
"Miles get back!" I screamed to no avail, as the five of us were enveloped by a white light, then I could no longer see any of the others, only the rock, then I saw the rock fracture into five pieces, and four of the pieces vanished, while the last was in my hand, then I passed out.
I woke up in a dark place, then after giving a testy sniff, I realized that I was in a dumpster, and after giving a groan, I angrily kicked the lid off, and watched as it flew into the air.
I peeked out of the dumpster, and found myself in an alley with five scantily dressed guys looking at me with anger, and after a closer observation, I saw that they had their knives out, and there was a person on the floor, looking like she was being harassed by the others before I arrived.
Immediately jumping into action, I jumped onto the wall above the prone lady, and struck a very spidery pose, and hissed at them. "You better leave here, before I hurt you. I don't like bullies."
Their leader scoffed at me. "What can you do, freak?"
"Last chance." I warned them.
"Yeah, tough luck." He said. "You'll be the one with their tail between their legs." Then he pretended to give me a look over. "Well actually, with their legs in between their legs. How did your mom feel, giving birth to an eight legged freak?" His gang gave a chuckle at that. "Or was your mom a spider?"
I looked down at the woman. "Is it just me, or is he just jealous of me?"
The woman looked surprised for a moment, then said, "He's definitely jealous."
"What's there to be jealous, I wouldn't want to have to walk with eight legs, or in pussy's ca-"
I grabbed him by the neck, and had him hanging over everyone else. "You want to insult me, fine. But what you just did, was a big mistake, fella. You wanna know why we're so cool?" I asked. "Because we can do things you can't."
I threw him in the air, and he gave a girly screech, then I shot a web at him, sticking him onto the wall of the alley.
I looked down at his crew, and crawled down, making a point of crawling with all eight legs like a spider, which felt way more normal then before, interestingly.
"Last chance, fellas." I said, in my spider-like position in front of the girl, showing my fangs and hissing at the thugs.
"Fuck this, I'm out of here." One of them said, and he ran away, and the others ran away barely a moment later.
I turned back to face the woman, and I stood up like a normal human being, took my mask off after a moment's thought, and gave the woman my hand.
"Are you ok?" I asked softly.
"Uhh, yeah." She said, "Really cool by the way, that spider pose."
"Why thank you!" I said. "Now, could you please tell me where I am?"
"You're in New York." She said, "Queens, to be precise."
"Forgive me for asking, but what is the date?" I asked.
"It's August 30th." She said. "What, how long were you hibernating in that dumpster?"
"The answer to that, depends on the year." I said.
"It's 1939." She said, and I blanched.
"We're your hibernating for five years, or what?" She asked, seeing my expression.
"I'm from 2009." I said.
"So you can time travel?" She asked. "That's cool."
"I can, but this time it wasn't my doing." I said. "But this won't be the prettiest five years."
"Why what happens?" She asked.
I looked at her seriously. "World War 2 starts in three days."