Chapter 2
(K'un Lun, Portal Site)
At the bottom of the steps of the temple, young Hope Summers stands in front of a magical portal that leads back to the earth where other heroes currently trying to rescue their friends from their enemy's prison. From her viewpoint, she can only see the mountain ranges and a single large volcano that was placed there by two reality-warping mutants. Most likely it was Magik since she has a preference for hellish styles.
The heroes that went there have only been gone for a few minutes but in that time Hope was starting to get anxious. She does not let it get to her though. She was taught that anxiety is one of the many emotions that can drive someone to do something incredibly stupid. Like say jumping through a portal leading into unknown and extremely dangerous territories to save comrades from persons possessed by a cosmic bird of fire that grants them the power to shape reality.
Hope Summers is currently feeling Anxiety, but she does not have the impulse to do that. Not to say the thought hasn't crossed her mind, but patience is one of the lessons that was pounded into her head since coming to the city of Kung-Fu. She has to wait until the time is right.
'I just wish it came sooner,' Hope thought.
Patience was taught, not mastered.
"Troubled, young one?"
A deep voice surprises her, and she turns to see Master Yu Ti standing behind her, looking at her curiously. Or she guesses he is, she can't really tell with his whole face covered.
She looks back at the portal and says, "Shouldn't we have heard something by now?"
Yu Ti walks to stand next to her and also looks at the portal as he answers, "What they are attempting to do is no easy task, so they need to take every precaution, including minimal communication with anyone outside of their immediate group."
"But what if-"
"Hope," he cuts her off calmly, "They will succeed, you needn't worry yo-"
"I'm not worried," she cuts in quickly.
He turns and raises an eyebrow at her. (Again hard to tell, but she feels like she is getting better at telling.)
Realizing that answering immediately makes it seem she is worried, her cheeks tint with embarrassment, and then says, "I just have a bad feeling."
The old Kung Fu master nods in understanding and says, "I realize in these types of situations we let our minds wander to the worst-case scenarios, but you must remember to have faith in them," she looks back at him as he explains his reasons, "The Avengers have come through, even with the most trying of times. They do not fail because they cannot."
"It's not that," Hope says as she shakes her head and gets a look on her face that tells him she's struggling with something on her mind, "It's just I- I got this feeling that something really bad is about to happen."
Yu Ti once again raises an eyebrow at her and asks, "Such as?"
The young mutant messiah shrugs her shoulders and she answers, "I don't know, It's like I got this voice in my head saying something is going to happen."
"A voice?"
"Is that weird?"
She doesn't like the prospect of her being weirder than she already is.
"A cosmic bird of fire is here to make you its latest, in its long line of hosts," Yu Ti points out, "You hearing voices is hardly qualified as weird."
Not knowing how to respond to that comment, Hope just looks back to the portal as does YuTi.
"Have faith young one," he tells her, "as I have just said, the Avengers have gone through scenarios such as these and have always won."
"Yeah but," The young redhead lowers her head in worry and states, "doesn't it always come at a price?"
Yu Ti glances at her and ponders her question. Recalling all events the Avengers and the like were involved in, at least the ones he's aware of. And realizing that there is some truth in her question.
"WE NEED A MEDIC!"
A sudden shout from the portal gets both of their attention as they see beaten Captain America carrying an unconscious Hawkeye.
Yu Ti whips his head to Hope, "I'll go and inform Dr. McCoy and our healers to prepare more beds," he quickly said to her. He then rushes to the temple and follows up with, "And I'll bring more to help carry them in."
Following the patriotic icon is a bloody and clothes-torn Wolverine carrying drained Spider-Woman, haggard Dr. Strange supporting semi-conscious Black Widow, Luke cage limping through, a bruised Iron Fist helping Quicksilver walk, and finally a beaten Ms. Marvel being carried in by a bruised She-Hulk, who is also dragging the Thing by the leg.
She-Hulk crumbles to one knee and says annoyingly, "Why was I stuck carrying two in?"
Hope rushes to She-Hulk and helps Ms. Marvel off the green amazon's shoulders. She-Hulk looks at Hope and thanks her and the adolescent mutant nods at her.
"Pietro!"
Hope hears Wanda Maximoff shouts as the older woman comes floating down with her hex powers. She lands at the end of the stairs and rushes to her twin brother.
The speedy Avenger sees her coming towards him, "Wanda," he says, he then pushes off of Iron Fist and meets his sister in an embracing hug.
Wanda sheds some tears as she hugs him very tightly, "I had thought the worst when they captured you."
Hope, looking at the two siblings, can't help but smile at the scene. It seems her worries were for nothing if the rescue mission was a success and everyone made it back well enough. As the Avengers hand off the wounded to the healers in the kung fu city, she continues to look throughout the crowd gathered and begins to notice something.
Her smile fades and turns into worry, "Wait hold on," she calls out to the crowd, "Wheres Spider-Man?"
"He stayed behind!" Wolverine shouts as he hands off Spider-Woman to a temple monk, he then turns and rushes back to the portal, "We need to go back!"
Cap nods in agreement, "LET'S GO AVENGERS!"
BOOOOOOOM!
An explosion from the other side of the portal blinds everyone in the vicinity and a shockwave pushes some of them down. All of the conscious Avengers shout the same thing.
"SPIDER-MAN!"
(Twenty Minutes Earlier)
Fire and Brimstone is the setting. All around the inner mountain is what one can see. Within the Russian mountains turned hellish prison, the Avengers are in a stare-down with the mutant Rasputin siblings, Magik and Colossus. Both sides waiting for the other one to make a move. On side is calm an collected while the other is nervous and sweaty. Tensions are high and nobody says a word.
"So does anyone have an idea on how to go about this?"
Well, almost nobody. Spider-Man, because let's face it who else, decided to ask the obvious question and break the silence.
Magik places both her hands on her sword and answers him, "You could take our offer and surrender."
Spidey, in his signature crouching position, retorts with a scoff, "And be strung up in a cocoon while little devil worms feast on my flesh? I don't think so."
"They do not feast on your flesh," she tells him as the fire on her sword intensifies, "They feast on your soul."
"...What part of that did you think would make the whole thing better?"
Instead of answering Magik jumps at him with a swing of her sword, thus starting the inevitable battle between the two groups.
"WHOA!" Spidey barely managed to duck the swipe to his head. He throws an uppercut to her head and she flips her body backward as she brings a leg to kick him in the chin and staggers him back. She gets upright, charges at him and swings her sword at his midsection, but Spidey reacts fast enough for her only to cut him a little.
He shoots some webbing at her sword to try and take it from her, however, she manages to cut through them and charges at him. She shoulder-checks him and launches him to the cave wall. His back hits the wall and his body makes an impression.
"Owie, that hurt," he said as he pulls himself out and rubs his head, "I guess it's true what they say about you Russian girls and being rough with a guy."
She is not amused by him as she points her blade up at him, "I will enjoy splitting you in half with my blade."
"If I had a nickel for every time a girl said that to me, I'd have a quarter."
That made the blonde girl pause and lower her blade slightly to look at him strangely.
Spidey looks offended and crosses his arms, "What, you think you're the only girl that's wanted to penetrate me?"
Her expression changes to annoyance and raises her blade again.
"Wait that didn't come out right."
She charges at him again and they continue their fight.
Meanwhile…
Colossus was a patient man, he can handle his sister constantly disobeying him whenever it came to certain matters. He can take it when anti-mutant extremists attack him, especially since most of the time they throw random junk at him and they don't really bother him. And he waited for years to have a physical relationship with his ex-girlfriend Kitty Pryde, something that his male friends, like Scott and Wolverine, often praised him for, and something he was personally proud of.
And at this moment his patience is certainly being tested. The Avengers hitting him and striking him, even though he really isn't budging an inch, is certainly a test of his fortitude.
"Please stop this," the massive Russian asked them calmly as Captain America's shield ricochets off his head and he doesn't react, "I do not wish to harm you."
It was partially true. He is suppressing the urge to crush their skulls with his hands since they insist on resisting him. But the dark impulse to do them great harm is slowly waning on his restraint with every blow they deliver to his person.
To his side, he hears She-Hulk scoff, "Considering you've got our friends in cocoons with worms slowly eating them, I doubt you want us to hug it out."
She charges at him, shoulder first, and rams into his stomach, but unfortunately, all that did was push him back a few inches. He grabs her by her arm, lifts her up, and slams her to the ground. Shulkie lets out a painful cry when she feels her shoulder dislocate from the throw.
"As my sister has stated," Colossus says to the female Hulk as he goes to stomp on her, "The worms are not eating them, but keeping them docile."
Iron Fist punches him in the back of his skull, stopping him from stomping on the green woman and slightly surprising the metal-skinned mutant and making him get agitated. He twirls around with She-Hulk in his grip and hits her against the kung-fu warrior. They both fly back and hit a pillar, breaking through it.
"Slow death ain't much of an improvement, bub," Wolverine says as he charges in and starts slashing at Colossus, while not really doing any damage.
"I see the pet continues to fight for his masters," he said as he swung his metal arm and connects with Wolverine's skull, and launches him across the room into Captain America as he raises his shield. Cap stops Wolverine from launching him too, but it also disorients him since Wolverine's adamantium skull clangs against his shield so close to his own head. Piotr walks towards them with the intention of knocking them unconscious.
"Piotr you need to stop."
He stops when he hears a rather familiar, and somewhat unwelcomed, voice. He turns and sees his former idol and teacher, Charles Xavier, looking at him sternly.
"Professor," he said blankly
Xavier looks at him pleadingly and says, "Piotr please, listen to reason!"
The steel-skinned Russian glares at his former professor and asks, "Why should we listen to you at all? You abandoned us in our time of need."
That's what most of the students in his school felt when Charles came back but did not really return to his former position. Instead handed the reigns to his pupils and expected them to do what he hoped and made them believe in doing.
The powerful telepath shakes his head and responds, "I did not abandon you, I believed that you all were ready to be without me! That Scott was ready to be the leader I hoped he would become!"
"Then I suppose we should be grateful that he became the leader we needed him to be when you yourself could not." Colossus retorted. He then makes a move toward the once-crippled man when he hears a shout.
"COMING THROUGH!
Colossus felt himself tilt forward slightly when two red spandex feet connected with the back of his head.
"I was kind of hoping for more than a tilt, like maybe a 'tip over' or at least 'nudge'."
He reaches around to grab the legs, but they push off of him. He turns and sees Spider-Man crouched low with a slightly frightened look. He sees his left eye since the lens that was covering is missing and he can also see a few cuts on the hero's suit.
The steel-skinned mutant stalks toward the little Spider and speaks, "You will have to do better than that."
Spidey puts on a mock thinking pose, "Hmm, you mean something like this," he said before he spews some webbing in his Colossus eyes. Colossus jerks his head back in surprise and before he can pull the webbing off, two web lines connect to his feet and pull them forward making him fall on his back.
Spidey then jumps in the air to the downed mutant, but his spider-sense warns him of a coming attack. He twirls in the air and a sword of fire misses by just an inch.
The wielder of the sword, Magik, looks livid and speaks as he lands on the ground, "We were not finished, little man."
He rubs the spot he would've been cut as he looks at her worriedly, "Why is it that most girls I know always want to stick something in me? Be honest do I give off a certain vibe?"
"FOCUS!" Captain America says in an authoritative tone as his shield soars through the air and connects with Colossus's skull as he gets back up.
THUNG
Other than making an annoying sound go through the mutant's head, the shield bounces off of him harmlessly and right back into the star-spangled man's hand. He charges at Colossus again with Wolverine and She-Hulk right behind him.
Spider-Man avoids another slash from the mean blonde woman that wants to hurt him, 'Although, is it technically her, or the cosmic dodo inside of her?'
'It's me,' he heard Illyana's voice in his head, 'Although, after that dodo comment, I'm sure the phoenix wishes for me to hurt you more severely.' She slashes at him again but he jumps back and gets some distance from her. She whips her hand out and opens a portal behind Spider-Man.
Feeling his Spidey-Sense tingle, Spider-Man backflips and manages to the attempted surprise. When he lands he sees it's some kind of blue spectral helldog, snarling at him and drooling on the floor. He looks at it strangely and then at Magik and asks, "Okay one, since when can you read minds and two since when can you make ghost dogs appear out of nowhere."
Magik stands by the beast and answers, "New abilities provided to me by the Phoenix." She lifts her sword up and points it towards him, "Now my pet, tear the legs off of the Spider."
"That is such a cliche," he says as the beast charges toward him and the young New York hero crouches in preparation, "I mean do you know how often my rogues have said that to me over the years?" When it jumps at him, he ducks underneath and kicks at it, only for his leg to go through its body. 'Uh-oh,' he thought as he rights himself. When it got to the cavern wall the helldog springs off it and straight toward Spider-Man. Spidey shoots some webbing at it only for it to go through that too, 'Oh c'mon'. With not many options to choose from, he chooses one that's always been tried and true to him.
He jumps from wall to wall and avoids the beast and instead heads for the real target, which is Magik. After his fourth jump, when he lured the creature behind him, he shoots two web lines at two separate pillars and slingshots himself toward the blonde Russian.
Illyanna, already knowing what he is thinking of doing, opens two portals, one on the floor in front of her and another behind her.
As Spidey closes in on her, his spider-sense triggers and he flips in mid-air to narrowly avoid another ethereal demon popping up in front of Magik. Unfortunately, even with his spider-sense warning him, he is not able to dodge another demon dog coming at him through Magik. The demon dog headbutts him in the stomach and skips across the ground.
As he tries to get up one of the helldogs lands on top of him and pins him down as it growls in his face.
"Phew," Spider-Man says as he turns his head away from the snarling dog, "I see dogs breath got nothing helldogs breath."
It snarls at him, as if angered by the joke, and then opens its mouth to bite him.
"HYAAH!"
Suddenly Iron Fist hits the beast on top of Spider-Man and makes it dissipate. The other two react quickly and try to jump him, but the Martial artist avoids them both by ducking. As he dodges them he hits one with his glowing fist and it dispels as well. The other one lands and bounces back immediately toward Danny. Just as it came close, Iron Fist quickly spins around and clocks it right in its nose, ending its existence the same as the other two.
Regrettably, Iron Fist let himself forget about the woman who summoned the creatures so he didn't see her charging from behind with her sword ready to cut him in half.
Just before she reaches him she felt something hit her arm, next thing she knew she was pulled away from the Kung-Fu warrior and thrown towards her brother, who had seen her flying at him just in time to catch her.
Colossus sets her down and asks, "Are you alright, snowflake?"
"I am fine, brother," she responds in irritation as she pulls off what she now sees as webbing from a certain annoying spider, "They are becoming rather irritating."
He nods in agreement to her statement, "Indeed, I had hoped they would see reason," He said as they both look to the heroes gathering themselves up and preparing for another attack, "But they foolishly continue with this."
Magik raises her sword, "Then let us end their foolishness, by ending them."
Colossus looks at his sister and worries that the Phoenix is corrupting her. She has become very aggressive and violent lately. He remembers when they were traveling the world and dealing with dictators and their armies and how she was more than willing to kill even those that surrendered in rather brutal fashions. he did not think much of it at the time but now he is concerned she is giving into the darkness too easily. He will need to confront her soon about giving in to such dark desires.
Meanwhile, over with the heroes, the Avengers are huffing and puffing from exhaustion. They've been fighting the Russian duo with everything they had, and yet it doesn't seem like they made any progress.
Wolverine, who has blood splotches all over him, asks, "So cap, any ideas on how we scram outta here with all this dead weight." He gestures to all the unconscious avengers they freed.
Captain America, who has his mask off and sporting some bruises and blood dripping down his face, answers, "The exit is right behind us, but it won't matter unless we can distract them long enough to get to the portal."
Black Panther tells him, "That's a five-minute window we do not have Captain." T'Challa did the math in his head. It took them two minutes to sneak in and find their people, now add them having fought the two Phoenix-powered mutants and having to carry all of the unconscious teammates, all together it's at the very least five minutes to get everyone out.
Cap nods at him, doing some math himself, and says, "I just don't see how we can get one."
Spider-Man, who is standing at the back of the group, looks down at the ground trying to think of a solution where everyone gets out okay. He looks around and notices that Black Widow managed to get everyone they freed near the exit, whilst everybody else was occupied with the fight. Unfortunately, she is still drained from the worms eating her soul, so she couldn't do much more.
As Spidey, continues to look at his unconscious teammates and friends, he notices something peculiar about the exit. More specifically, two columns of rock that look…
"Hey, Logan."
The feral mutant looks back at the webhead, "Yeah."
"I've got a plan, but I'm gonna need you to do something for me."
Wolverine turns his attention back ahead and says, "Hell if it'll get us all outta here in one piece then I'm all for it," he then releases his metal claws and crouches, "What do ya need me to do Webhead?"
"...Tell Hope I meant what I said."
Logan gets confused at the request, but before he can turn and question it, he feels something hit his back and immediately sees more webbing hit the rest of the group's back.
"What the- WHOA!"
They all get yanked backward, all the way to the cavern entrance. When they land they immediately sit up and see Spider-Man shooting another web line to a boulder a few yards from him.
Cap, sees this and yells, "SPIDER-MAN WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"
Spidey looks at him and yells, "I'M GIVING YOU A WINDOW!"
He then swings the boulder to the first column and it breaks through and hits the second column. The cavern starts to shake and debris begins to fall in front of the exit. The conscious Avengers see what he is doing, but when they look back at him, they see he's just standing there watching.
As the exit begins to close up from the rocks and boulders, Spider-Man yells, "GET EVERYONE OUT, I'LL HOLD THEM OFF!"
They see him turn his back to face the two Rasputin siblings, and then their line of sight is completely cut off due to all the debris.
Wolverine rushes to dig through the debris but stops when Captain America places a hand on his shoulder.
He looks at him in confusion, "Cap we gotta-"
We can't waste time trying to dig our way back in, we need to get all the injured out now."
"What?!" Wolverine expresses his shock at his long-time friend leaving a comrade behind.
"We don't have a choice. It'll take too much time to get through the debris," he says with regret in his voice but still quickly walks up to Hawkeye's unconscious form and puts him on his shoulder, "Spider-Man gave us a window we have to take it. He can handle himself but not for long, so we have to hurry."
Reluctantly, but quickly the Avengers pick up their unconscious teammates and start heading out of the cave. All the while hoping Spider-Man can last long enough for them to come back in time.
'I hope that I can last long enough for them to come back in time.' Coincidentally Spidey is thinking the exact same thing.
He is in an intense staredown against the brother and sister mutant duo. Well, he's staring intently at them, they are giving a look of dismissal.
Which is incredibly hurtful. He can be a threat to them. He's beaten big bads before. By himself too. He can take on two cosmic-powered mutant siblings.
'...I really hope that I can last long enough for them to come back in time.'
Magik scoff, "Hold us off? How exactly do you plan to do that, little man?"
"Little?!" Spider-Man shouted, mockingly offended by her words, "I'll have you know I'm average. Some say even slightly above. "
She is not amused by him, 'Nobody ever is.'
Colossus walks towards Spidey and says, "Stand down Spider-Man, I do not wish to harm you."
"Yeah you've been saying that a lot, but be honest are you trying to tell us or yourself?"
Colossus is taken aback by the question, "What do you mean?"
The web-themed hero relaxes his stance and says, "You really can't see it, can you? Colossus, you are one of the most ethical and upstanding X-men I know, definitely more than Cyclops has been lately, you're telling me you don't know how much harm you're doing? How much trouble you're causing mutants? How the phoenix is corrupting you?"
Piotr stands firm and responds, "It has not been corrupting us, it has given us clarity! And we are showing mutants that they have nothing to fear!"
"Instead that they should be feared, right?" Spider-Man questions rhetorically, "That's against everything Xavier ever taught you!
Colussus gets agitated at that, "He abandoned us in our time of need!"
"Enough!" Magik shouts as she steps in front of her brother and gives him a furious look, "Brother, he is wasting our time as his comrades are making their escape! Ignore him and tear through the debris!"
Colossus pauses for a moment and nods at her statement, "Yes, you are right sister." He walks towards the entrance that Spider-Man is standing in front of, "Move or be moved, the choice is yours. You cannot stop us."
Spidey nods in agreement, "You're right, I can't stop you, but I don't have to," he crouches again and tenses, "I just need to stall you." With that said he launches himself at the metal-skinned mutant.
Colossus throws a haymaker at the approaching hero, but Spidey slides under it and vaults over a slash from Magik when she tries to cut him diagonally. He shoots a line at her and hits her back. Before he can pull her, Colossus grabs the web line and pulls Spiderman to him, and punches him in the face.
KLANG"GUH!"
Metal fist plus Spider-Man face equals a broken nose and concussion. But he does not let it slow him down. He fires another webline just behind them and uses the momentum of being launched from the punch to slingshot himself back at them. They react quickly but he even faster. As once again, Magik tries to slice him by the stomach but he contorts himself midair to avoid her and the attempted grab from her brother. In a split second, he manages to grab her by the arm and throw her into the lava not too far from them.
'I sincerely hope that did not kill her,' he thinks to himself as he jumps into the air to avoid Colossus, who seems more frustrated now. He fires two more lines down and pulls to propel down and bury the big man's head into the ground, "Now would you both be o kind as to surrender now?"
He immediately leaps off the man as Colussus tried to grab him again and fires a line to the side to avoid a slash from Magik, who as it turns out is completely fine.
But her eyes burn with a hating inferno as she looks at him and says, "You will pay for that."
From his position on a pike, Spider-Man shakes his head and says, "Honey Im paying for it by looking at that outfit of yours."
This goes on for a few minutes. The two siblings attack in coordination and Spidey does his best to avoid them. Unfortunately, he is only able to avoid them so much for so long. They manage to get a few hits in every now and then and the cuts and blows start to take their toll on the hero. After what seemed like forever, but was actually closer to four minutes, Spidey crashes harshly flat on his back, dazed and in a massive amount of pain. He tries to get up until he feels a heavy foot on his chest. His vision is blurred but he can make out the steel face he has been trying to stop from going after his friends.
"Stay down. I do not wish to harm you." He heard Colossus say to him with his finger in his face. Although he could swear he heard some doubt in his voice.
"Just cripple him and be gone with him, brother," oh good the mean blonde lady wants to add to the conversation, "We don't need to waste any more time with him."
Well, that's just mean. Here he is holding hold them off so his friends can get away and she just thinks he's a waste of time. Well, he'll show her.
As soon as he gets this foot off of his back.
He didn't have to wait long, because Colossus lifts his foot off of him and converses with his sister.
"He is beaten, there is no need to go to such extreme measures."
Oh isn't that sweet, even after breaking his nose Colossus doesn't want to hurt him some more.
"If only you were as hard as your skin brother, instead of so soft like проскурняк."
What was that? Did she just call him a name? He should listen to Natasha more when she speaks her native tongue.
"Illyana, please. We are trying to show them that we are not the enemy."
So punching someone in the face is his way of saying 'Let's be friends.' Boy if everyone he knows thinks like that then he'd have more friends than Iron Man has money.
"You are correct brother, we are their saviors. If they cannot see that, then they deserve their fates."
Fate huh? For some reason that word really ticks him off.
"Sister please you are starting to frighten me."
Metal Man thinks he's scared. He should try laying facedown on the floor with his face caved in.
"S-see wha-what I mean Col-Colossus," Spidey said with great strain from underneath their gaze, "The Phoenix is -kuh-making your si-sister all wacky," he struggles to push himself off the ground, "How long 'cough' do you think it'll take you to turn dark?"
The metal-skinned man looks to the downed hero and ponders the question. It's true he has been fighting certain dark urges, such as wanting to crush the New York hero's skull beneath his foot, but he figured since he hasn't really given in to any of them he is still a long way from being turned evil. His sister is where he truly is concerned. While traveling all over the world fixing its problems, he noticed his sister taking actions that were definitely crossing a line. When they were ridding the armies of the world, she executed several hundred soldiers all over the world. Some even when they surrendered only because they still attacked her in the first place. It's as if any sense of good has been wiped away from her.
"An insect, like you, should not be insulting his betters," Colossus is brought out of his thoughts when his sister speaks, "Especially not when they are already being merciful enough in letting you keep your little insignificant life."
"You keep saying little," Spidey says with a strained voice as he puts himself on his knees, "and yet I'm slightly taller than you."
He knows if he keeps pushing her, she'll do something he'll regret, but he has to keep pushing to enact his plan.
"Always with a pitiful joke to mask how pathetic you are," she says with a scoff and derision.
"Well we all have our ways of dealing with our insecurities," he says as he looks right at her. One of his lenses is broken so one of his eyes is showing, "Me, I try to be funny. Iron Man drinks, Thor brags about how mighty his hammer is, and you," he laughs a little buts coughs a bit instead, "Well yours is even more pathetic you-"SHLUK
He stops and widens his eyes when he feels an intense pain in his chest. He looks down and sees Magik piercing his chest with her sword.
'Well, I should've seen this coming,' he thinks to himself as he looks back at her with a scared expression, while she looks back with utter contempt.
"As I said," he hears her say, "We were being merciful in letting you keep your little insignificant life," she leans in and whispers into his right ear, "but I just ran out of mercy."
She pulls out her sword and he coughs up his blood as more begins to pour out of his chest. He places his hands on the hole in his chest to stop the bleeding. His heart is beating so fast which makes him worried he'll bleed out even faster. He tries to think of what to do to stop this but comes up with nothing since he ran out of webbing during their fight. All he can think about right now is the people he is letting down.
Meanwhile, Colossus is shocked at the deed his sister had just done. Their opponent had been defeated and she still decided to stab the defenseless hero.
"Illyana," he calls to her as she wipes her blade on the bleeding hero's costume, "What have you done?"
"I did what needed to be done," she tells him with no remorse while she flicks her blade to burn the blood off of it.
"He was beaten, you did not need to-"
"Enough!" The blonde mutant shouts at her brother and he reels back at her outburst, "He was in the way and I removed him permanently! As we should have been doing from the beginning! We should be getting rid of all who are against us!" She lowers her voice and looks back at her brother with disdain, "If they will not submit then they will perish. And if you cannot accept that, then you are not worthy of possessing this power."
Stunned at the declaration her sister just made, Colossus begins to see what Spider-Man was saying. He has been able to fight off the darkness that has been creeping into his heart, but it seems his sister has not. In fact, he doubts she even tried to ward off the dark influence of the Phoenix force.
And if that is the case, then he knows what he has to do to save his precious little sister.
"Illyana," he speaks to her calmly, "You are no longer suited to wield this power give it to me now."
Magik narrows her eyes, challenging her brother, and says, "Try and take it."
She lowers her stance and raises her sword as Colossus lowers his stance as well, readying to charge at her. Both look at each other intensely not blinking. Neither of them showing any hesitation or signs of weakness. Both are very committed to taking the other down.
All the while Spider-Man, still holding his bleeding wound, looks on with a half-droopy eye and thinks, 'So, two cosmic-powered mutants are about to fight for the other's power right in front of me... in an enclosed space... while I'm bleeding out... Yeah, this is gonna-"
FA-BOOOOOM!
(Portal in front of the Mountain)
All the snow that once covered the mountains for miles has now been evaporated. The ground around the partially destroyed mountain is steaming from all of the evaporated and still-falling snow. Black scorched rocks are all one can see for miles.
The Avengers that first came through the portal come through again and see the destruction with wide eyes and gaping mouths.
"The hell happened here?" Wolverine asks the question on all their minds.
Xavier closes his eyes and concentrates, "It would seem that Magik and Colossus did battle with each other for more power of the Phoenix. I can sense the faint traces of its power resonating here."
T'challa looks around the area cautiously and asks, "Who won the battle between them?"
Xavier focuses inside the mountain and feels two presences, "It would seem that neither possessed more power than the other, so they defeated each other."
Wolverine thinks about why the two siblings would duke it out and comes to one conclusion, "Webhead must have made them turn on each other while he was getting beat on."
Captain America looks at the destroyed mountain with worry and asks, "Where is Spider-Man right now?"
"I'm not entirely sure," Charles responded as he tries to focus more, "I cannot sense his presence insi-" he stops when he notices a faint signature. His eyes open shock and horror, "Oh no." He then breaks off into a sprint toward the entrance of the mountain before the others could ask him what was wrong. They can assume from his actions that it can't be anything good.
They reach the entrance into the cavern where they left him, seeing as most of the debris was removed from the explosion. Once they enter they see at the center of a crater both Magik and Colossus unconscious and injured.
Wolverine snorts at the sight, "I always figured those two would eventually turn on each other."
"I-It wa-wasnt as ea-easy as y-you think."
All of them turn and see Spider-Man. Though the thing that really gets their attention is the fact that he looks bleeding as if he's bleeding from every pore of his body. He collapses onto the ground and his teammates rush immediately afterward.
"Spider-Man!" Captain America shouts as runs toward the young hero. He reaches him first, gets on his knees, and holds his head up delicately while looking at him with worry. The rest of the team circles around him and the badly beaten hero, all with the same expression as the patriotic soldier.
They especially focus on the wound on his chest which is bleeding profusely.
Spider coughs up a bit of blood and says, "I've b-been through 'cough' worse."
Cap looks at the others with urgency, "We need to get him medical attention quick!"
Dr. Strange kneels down, waves his fingers around, and mystical energy begins to gather at his fingertips, "I know of a few spells that can help with his healing factor."
Strange stops when the whole mountain begins to rumble and stalagmite fall from the ceiling.
"We need to move!' Cap shouted as he picks up the younger hero, bridal style.
Xavier looks over at the two unconscious mutants and then back at the Avengers, "We have to get them out as well!"
Wolverine growls and reluctantly heads down the crater to pick up Magik and flings her over his shoulder, not really caring if she's comfortable or not, while She-Hulk picks up Colossus and carries him like a fireman. They follow Cap and the rest out of the cavern and avoid the debris at the same time.
Meanwhile, Spider-Man feels his consciousness slipping. His eyelids become heavier and heavier and he begins to lose feeling all over.
"Stay with me, soldier! We're almost there!"
He hears Cap shouting but he sounds so far away for some reason. Why does he sound so far away? The man is carrying him. His face is right next to his own, so why?
He should say something.
Something he should've said a long time ago.
"Ca-Cap."
He's just realizing how hard it is to say anything right now.
"Cap."
At least that one was louder.
"Don't say anything! Save your strength, we're almost there!"
Alright, he heard him. Now he just needs to say it and then he'll listen to his orders.
"I'm sorry I wasn't good enough."
Hey, he didn't struggle to speak this time. Although now he can't hear what the Captain was saying to him. It's all muffled. And is it just him or is it getting darker?
'Oh wait, It's not getting darker,' he thought to himself as he came to the morbid realization of what was happening to him. As it slowly started to get darker, a few faces came to mind as his last thoughts, 'Aunt May, Mary Jane, Reed, Sue, Ben, Johnny, Val, Frankie, and heck everyone, I'm sorry I wasn't good enough.' He finished his thoughts just as darkness took him.
In his last moments, he would've sworn he saw a cloaked figure standing at the entrance of the cave.
The Avengers finally get outside just as the entire mountain collapses in. They all breathe a sigh of relief, especially those who were carrying some bodies. Wolverine drops Magik to the floor without a care and She-Hulk just chucks Colossus's body.
While they do that, Cap carefully lays Spider-Man on the ground and says with relief, "We made it soldier, we made it."
It is at this point Steve notices how still Spidey is and dread starts to sink in, "Spider-Man?" Steve says to him with a nudge on the hero's shoulder, but doesn't get a response, "Spider-Man?" He calls out again, this time loud enough to get the attention of others, but still nothing from the younger hero.
Wolverine rushes over, gets on his knees next to him, and gently nudges him, "Peter?," he says with his voice breaking slightly, "Hey c'mon kid, this ain't no time for jokes." He's really hoping that the young hero wakes up and says he was just kidding. To say a stupid like 'Tis but a scratch.' But he doesn't even move.
Strange is the next to get on his knees next to the Patriotic Hero. He grabs Peter's hand and places his fingers on his wrist to look for a pulse.
He doesn't find one.
(K'un Lun, a Few minutes later)
After the heroes who came back from the mountain rescues mission went back to retrieve he comrade they left behind, Cyclops came and all but demanded hoe to come back with him to make her take the power of the Phoenix. She obviously resisted and ran while the few remaining heroes fought the mutant leader. They threw everything they had at him, including Wanda at one point, but the man kept coming at them. Eventually, Hope had enough of watching good people, heroes, get hurt trying to stop the madman, and so she reached inside of her and found a power she did not know she could use.
"GO AWAY!"
Hope punches Cyclops with Chaos Fist and he vanished instantly. She holds her punching pose for a moment until it finally sinks what she just did.
She looks at her hand with eyes wide in astonishment, "Woah," she says, "How did I do that?"
'When your moment comes you'll either know or someone will tell you.'
Spider-Man's words echoed in her head. Even though she didn't understand it at the time it still stuck to her. She looks at her simmering fist and thinks, 'Is this what he meant?'
"Now that's what I'm talking about."
She heard Iron Man's voice speak up from behind her she turns around and sees him walking up to her. Well, more like limping really. She notes the extensive damage and missing faceplate to his suite. Some wires are sticking out of a few areas, a few metal plates are missing, and electrical sparks are coming out here and there.
When the man reaches her, he puts a hand on her shoulder and happily says, "Nice going kid, you handled that like a real Avenger."
She looks at him oddly, "Thanks? But I'm more X-Men than Avenger."
He waves his hand dismissively, "Well, you're young. You'll eventually figure out what's right and what's an X-man."
Ignoring the jab at the team she prefers, Hope looks back at her hand and says, "I guess he was right."
"Who was?" Tony asks as the rest of the Avengers who have been fighting the Phoenix-powered Cyclops gathered behind him. Consisting of Thor, Thing, Scarlet Witch, and Hawkeye.
Hope answers, "Spider-Man. He said that when the moment comes, I'll know when it's my moment."
Tony nods in understanding and says, "Yeah, that little web-headed chatterbox never seems to shut up. Always says whatever comes to mind. Whether it's a bad joke, a stupid quip, or something that just makes an awkward situation even more awkward. But in the moments that matter most, he always knows what to say."
Hope still looks at her hand for a few more seconds and then looks at Tony, "You don't get that impression when you first meet him, do you?"
"No, you do not."
"Aye."
"Ain't dat the truth."
"You eventually learn to tune him out."
She smiles a bit at seeing them all agee on her statement.
The booming sound of the portal opening behind them grabs their attention. They look and see Wolverine walk through first followed by Dr. Strange, She-Hulk Storm, Xavier, and Black Panther.
Hope immediately notices their somber expressions and dread sinks in her stomach.
Tony however doesn't notice it and raises his hand and greets them happily, "Hey, glad to see you all made it back alright. Guess what, Hope can take on Scott and Emma now."
Wolverine stops and looks at the Billionaire genius, "Stark, there's something we gotta-"
"Whatever it is it's gotta wait," he tells the feral mutant as he gets a serious look, "We've got a narrow window right now."
"Stark-"
"I'm just speculating, but I'm pretty sure Hope can hurt Cyclops some more if she were to just-"
"Tony!"
Wolverines shout got everyone by surprise. But what got them even more surprised was the fact that the man was shedding tears. The usually stoic man, who had lived longer than most of them, is breaking down in tears right before them.
Iron Man looks at him strangely, having never seen the immortal mutant show such emotion, "Logan?"
Not answering him, but instead moving aside so everybody present can see Captain America walking towards them from the portal.
Hope eyes widen in shock as she gasps, "Oh my god."
The Thing looks on in disbelief as tears begin to form in his eyes, "No."
Thor and Hawkeye are left speechless.
Scarlet Witch puts her hands over her mouth.
And Tony Stark, the invincible Iron Man, crumbles to his knees.
In front of them is a mask-less Captain America carrying the bloody body of Spider-Man. Cap looks at them, his own eyes pouring tears and face filled with sorrow.
"Spider-Man's dead."
(Unknown area in Space)
Peter doesn't know where he is, but he doesn't care because he is too comfortable sleeping. Best sleep he's had in a long time. He actually can't remember the last time he slept so well. Was he by himself or was there a face next to his?
"Wake up Peter."
He also doesn't recognize that voice, but he still doesn't care. Nobody is gonna ruined the best nap ever, So he groans out, "No, I don't want to."
"Wake up."
Okay, now the voice sounds eerily familiar, but still not good enough, "It's Saturday, there's no school."
"You must awaken!"
"Gah!"
Spider-Man wakes up in a jolt and immediately recognizes who woke him up, "Uatu? What are you doing in my room?"
The Watcher looks at him with his, very creepy, blank white eyes, and says, "We are not in your world Spider-Man."
"What?" Spider-Man says as quickly notices the environment behind the Omnipresent being. It's when he realizes he's in space, though he doesn't know where.
"Where am I? What am I doing here? Wait, something happened," he scratches his head and tries to remember, "There was something going on back home and I was- That's it! Earth is in danger I have to get back!"
As he was getting up, Uatu speaks to him, "You can not return to earth, Spider-Man."
Spider looks back up at him questioningly, "What do you mean I can't? I-" and that's when his memories fully return. His eyes widen in shock, he falls back on his butt and he quietly asks, "I died?"
Uatu gives him a sympathetic look and nods, "Yes, you did."
Spidey grabs his head to compose himself, "I freakin' died. Great the one time I actually do something worthwhile for the Avengers and I end up croaking for it," he lets out a bitter chuckle, "Story of my life."
Uatu, still with a sympathetic look on his face, reaches out to him and says, "Spider-Man-"
"Where the heck am I anyways?" He interrupted the big bald being as he looks at him, "And what are you doing here?"
"The mortal has arrived, the time is now."
A new and powerful voice speaks up from behind the arachnid-themed hero. He turns and is greeted with the sight that will remain burned into his memory for the rest of his life. Before him are God-like beings. Going from Mephisto to his right, then to Death, Galactus, Infinity and Eternity, Master Hate and Mistress Love, the Inbetweener, and finally Master Order and Lord Chaos.
And standing at the center of it all is the one and only Living Tribunal.
"The trial for the Earth shall begin."
"...I think I just peed myself."