Truth and Revelations
(New York, Birch Coffee Shop, Morning)
Peter is nervous. Evident by his tapping foot on the floor and his fingers on his cup of coffee. He hopes what he's doing is the right thing. He debated and argued with himself since he came back home. All that really did was set him on edge even more. He lifts his coffee mug and takes a sip of his drink in the hopes the warm beverage calms him.
'Decaf was a smart choice,' Peter thinks to himself as he sits in a booth by the window of Birch Coffee shop.
It's been a week since the whole Phoenix fiasco and his coming back to life. A week and the world goes back to the status quo. Albeit with some big changes. But it's all for the best in his opinion.
"...panic in the streets since the re-emergence of mutants." Some random male TV reporter that he is honestly not paying much attention to, "The Senate has not yet made any comments on the matter. There has been no response from the Avengers regarding how they intend to proceed with the X-Men. However, arrests have been made..."
He tunes out the rest. Honestly, the news and their biased stories just irritate him. He's had to deal with Jameson for years, and the man being mayor now makes it worse, but the X-Men and mutants in general have it harder than him.
'Something else to fix maybe,' he thinks to himself before shaking his head, 'Remember, start with your own first.'
Since his revival, he's made a mental list of things he has every intention of fixing. From his personal life, his hero life, all the way to the big world problems. But as much as he would like to start with the big world stuff, he has to sort his things out first. Because as he's just learned from the trial, or whatever that was, his personal life does affect everything around him.
'But not because I'm the most important person in the world,' he mentally checks himself as he leans on the table with his arms and elbows while staring into his cup of coffee. He needs to also remind himself that even though that whole debacle was because of him, it doesn't mean every decision he makes is that important.
Then again it was pointed out that-'No, stop it,' he vehemently thinks to himself while shaking his head, 'This is not about you, stop thinking like that. This is about fixing-'
"Well, that's a familiar look that I don't miss."
Peter gets jolted out of his head as he turns to the source of the voice. His heart skips a beat as he sees a familiar shade of red hair accompanied by a dazzling smile. One that he hopes he does not end up being responsible for getting rid of.
He gives a nervous smile in return, "Hey MJ."
"Hey tiger," Mary Jane Watson, the girl next door and the girl of his dreams, greets back with a happy smile and her usual nickname for him. The one that he absolutely loves to hear from her. She takes a seat across from him, "So, you want to tell me why you have your resting 'Parker' face."
He lets out a small laugh, "My what?"
She smiles a bit teasingly as she continues, "You know, that face you always make when something is eating you up." She turns to the barista who comes to take her order, "The usuals, Kathy. Thanks." She turns her attention back to Peter, "So, I'm assuming that's the reason you called to meet you here. To unload whatever is making you make that face."
She could always read him like a book. After years of being together it's no surprise, but still. She got him better than anyone else. Hell, she knew about his side job before they even met and she kept it a secret. It's no wonder he married this woman. Even Carlie wasn't this good.
(AN: Okay I'm just gonna say it before you all point it out to me, I know Carlie was portrayed as the perfect girl for Peter, but I did not believe that. I just hated her for so many reasons. Joe Quesadilla tried waaayyy too hard with her. I'd go into more detail but you can just look up "why fans hate Carlie Cooper," it'll explain a lot.)
'But that's no longer the case.' He morbidly recalls as looks down at his cup with regret, "Well, part of the reason."
"Personal therapist to Peter Parker." She quips, which he finds to be endearing, "I should charge you but I doubt you can afford the rates." They both chuckle at that, "So what's up?"
He sighs in exasperation, "Oh boy, I don't even know where to start."
MJ rests her head in her hand as she leans on the table with an amused look while tapping her finger on the table, "How about like you always do?"
He thinks about it for a few seconds before he realizes what she means and takes a breath and bluntly states, "I died."
Mary Jane's finger stops tapping as her smile diminishes slightly. Peter just nods with a strained smile and waits for her response. He probably should have eased into this, but she said to do it like he always does. He tells her what's wrong and like always, he hopes she sticks around to hear the whole story.
She stays silent for a few moments and just looks at Peter before she turns around and politely shouts to the barista, "Kathy, can I get that in a to-go cup."
Panic sets in as Peter reaches for her but stops halfway, "Wait, MJ I can explain."
He has so much to tell her and he doesn't want to push it off any longer. Hell, it took a week for him to find the free time to do it, but with Franklin and Valeria, then that whole Kree invasion, and Johnny Storm coming back, it took him a week to get in touch with her. He wants to fix this aspect of his life desperately.
"I know," she says as she turns back to him, "We're gonna walk and talk."
His panic leaves and he becomes surprised at this. In truth, he was extremely worried about how she'd react. He assumed she would just bail and say she didn't want to hear any of it. His life as Spider-Man was something she very much hated. It's the reason why he never proposed again.
Seeing his surprised look, she leans forward and whispers to him, "Did you really think it was a good idea to have this kind of conversation in a place where someone could easily overhear us? Especially if they sit behind us?"
He stops thinking for a moment as that fact sets in. His brain starts up again and he takes in his surroundings. A coffee shop with hipsters, journalists, and bloggers who all are on their phones and computers. And there are only a few who are focused on their screen and not on the supermodel who is currently sitting across from him and leaning close to his face. Or at least being subtle about it.
'In retrospect, I should have expected this.' He thinks to himself before he mentions his worries to MJ, "I mean, I just thought that it would be weird if I said if we meet at your place or mine. And also better somewhere familiar."
She raises an amused eyebrow as she asks, "What about the park?"
…
…
…he did not think of that.
"I'm gonna ask for a to-go cup too."
"You do that."
(Baxter Building)
Currently, inside the Baxter Building, the first superhero family is having breakfast in their dining room. Reed is at the head of the table with Sue next to him with their kids. Ben and his fiancé Alicia are on his other side. And Johnny is at the other end of the table conversing with everyone to hear what he missed out on in the last month.
Specifically, just before he came back.
"So you're telling me, that showboating spandex-wearing son of a beach ball came back to life just three days before me?"
"Pretty much yeah."
"That prick."
Reed Richards can't help but smile in amusement at his brother-in-law's reaction at not being the only recently resurrected member of the Fantastic Four. Though granted both were very emotional for the whole family. When Peter came back with Reed and as soon as the Fantasti-car landed, Franklin and Valeria immediately crashed into him and held him as tightly as they could. Both cried their eyes out and said how happy they were that they didn't lose another uncle.
And also made promises to get revenge on the X-Men, but thankfully Peter talked them out of it.
Anyway, he spent the night with them just playing around with them and goofing off. He even went so far as to sleep with them all bundled up in a fort they made. It was one of the moments that he and Sue truly were able to cherish.
The next day he agreed to go through some tests with Reed, Tony, and surprisingly Hank McCoy. Apparently, the man had called Tony and asked if he could be involved in figuring out what Peter went through exactly. Tony said no at first, and Reed was in agreement considering Peter's current predicament, but then Steve suggested that they only allow him to test his DNA since that is his area of expertise.
They reluctantly agreed to such a thing, but Reed and Tony were still very hesitant.
So when the tests were all done, which took all day, Peter said his goodbyes and went on his way. He, of course, made a promise to the kids he'd be back soon. And soon was the very next day. The Kree decided to invade Earth. It just became a big mess. To sum it all up, Galactus was involved, along with some Mad Celestials, and then his children of the future came into the mix.
'That was certainly a headache,' Richards thinks to himself as he tries not to dwell on that part too much.
Nevertheless, Reed was just thankful his whole family was back together again.
"Hey, come on," Ben says with amusement clear in his voice, "It don't matter who came back first. Just as long as da two of ya's are back." He then grabs his reinforced mug and goes to drink from it, "Course everyone waz sadder he waz dead."
"Oh fuck you, man!"
"Johnny!" Sue admonishes him for his language in front of the kids. The kids however laugh while Johnny merely gestures to the strongest member of their team. A silent way of saying he started it. Sue just rolls her eyes at their behavior.
Ben finishes his drink with a sigh, "Well," he says jubilantly as he stands up, "I gotta get goin'. Got an escort mission wit' da New Avengers."
"Who are you escorting?" Reed asks.
Ben kisses Alicia before he answers, "Emma Frost."
At the mention of that name, the two young children stop smiling and tense up. Valeria glares at her food and Franklin looks at his despondently.
Reed notices this and asks, "Franklin, Valeria, are you alright?"
All the grownups look at the kids, as the two don't immediately respond, and just stare at their food with different expressions. Franklin with a despondent look on his face as he moves his pees around and Val just looks at her food coldly.
The son doesn't look up as he asks, "Why are you escorting her?"
It sounded like an innocent question, but there was some underlying anger there. Reed and Sue look at each other briefly, both thinking the same thing.
Ben looks at his nephew as he stands by the door and shrugs, "Cap asked us ta and I volunteered."
"Why can't SHIELD, or someone else, do it?" Franklin asks another innocent question, but his posture and tone didn't change.
The large man slips on his coat as he says, "They got a tip dat some mooks from the 'Church of Humanity' or whatever are aiming ta kill Frost in da place they got her at. So we, being da good samaritans dat we are, are gonna make sure miss too-good-for-us stays alive long enough for her to go to trial."
Valeria suddenly says, "You should let them kill her."
All the adults drop their utensils onto their plates as they look at Val in surprise, while she looks at her food with a scowl. Clearly, nobody expected this kind of reaction, least of all Reed and Sue.
"Hey munchkin," Ben calls out to the young girl as he stands by the door, "Ya think Spidey would be happy ta hear you say dat?"
She stubbornly crosses her arms over her little chest and huffs, "It's no less than they deserve."
"Dat ain't for us to decide," he says to her.
He leaves without saying another word. Leaving Val's parents to deal with her.
"Sweetie," Sue says gently, getting the little girl's attention, "I know you're upset, but Peter's fine now."
"That doesn't make it okay!" Valeria suddenly shouts, surprising the adults with her severe emotional response, "Just because Uncle Peter came back, doesn't mean they don't deserve to be punished for killing him!" Val then points to her blood uncle, "Would you forgive Annihilus for what he did to Uncle Johnny!"
Sue doesn't retort. Not like she could, because she knows she wouldn't forgive that monster for what he subjected her brother to. He told the grown-ups what he went through, and the kids of course were listening in again. Sue hated to hear what her brother went through, having to die only to be brought back to life by some worms putting him back together. Hell, back during the battle with the Kree, if she had known and gotten the chance she would've made a shield inside Annihilus and blown him up from the inside.
Sue sighs and says, "That's different."
"Why!?" Val asks angrily, "Because he's not human! Well, neither is she or any of-"
"Valeria!"
The little girl flinches, and so does her brother, as both their parents shout at her to stop her from finishing that sentence.
She huffs before she pushes her chair back, "I'm going to my room," she says before she walks away.
Franklin follows suit not two seconds after her with a downtrodden look on his face. Clearly not happy that someone in his family is protecting someone who was responsible for the death of his favorite superhero.
Their parents look at them with worry.
"Boy, I can only imagine how they were when I was gone."
Sue gives her brother a look.
(Central Park, Afternoon)
Peter has just spent the last couple of hours telling Mary Jane everything that happened when he died. From him training Hope, to him dying, and now just getting into the trial he was involved in.
"Wait so Galactus not eating our planet is that big a deal?" MJ asks with an incredulous expression as she and he walk through the park passing by people as they do.
Peter scrunches up, "Well I wouldn't go that far, but us getting in the way of him eating other planets is."
"Oh, well I guess that makes sense."
They get to a park bench in a nice and secluded section of the park and sit down as Peter reflects on the last few hours. This is certainly different from when he told Reed, Steve, Tony, and Stephen. Unlike them, she asked questions when he mentioned some things that she had no idea about, which was a lot, and he answered them as best as he could. And what surprises him the most is that she has yet to seem overwhelmed by it all. Heck, she is taking it a lot better than the others did. No yelling or calling him stupid.
'For now,' he thinks to himself morosely as he has yet to get to the worst part. The part he has been dreading all week. he has rehearsed in how to say this, but each time it just sounded horrible.
"Uh-oh," MJ says as he looks back at her and she gives him a faux annoyed look, though it has some genuine annoyance in it, "'Parker' face is back." He smiles a little at that as she continues with some playfulness, "I don't know why though. I mean from what you've told me, even when dead, you can't help but to try and save the world."
He smiles a little more and shrugs, "What can I say? Old habits are hard to kill."
"Even though you were already dead," she quips back, though there was a slight struggle for her to say it.
And it makes him feel guilty. He sighs as he says, "I'm sorry."
"Are you seriously apologizing for dying while saving the world?" Mary Jane says incredulously.
"Kind of," he says, "But I'm mostly sorry for letting my other life get in the way of-"
"Stop." She interrupts him with a sigh as she looks away, "I can't get mad at you for that. You go out there and help people." She lets out a hollow breathy laugh, "Heck, you saved the world while you were dead. Who else can say that?"
She is trying to pass off as lighthearted, but he can hear the bitterness in her voice. He knows she doesn't want to be mad at him for his life as Spider-Man, but she is. She has always resented that part of his life. And he can't blame her for it. His life as Spider-Man has always put the people he loves the most in the world in mortal danger. And it also got in the way of Peter Parker's life.
'And now I'm trying to get her back in it again,' he thinks to himself as he looks down in guilt again, 'And the worst part is that I don't know for sure if I'm doing it for the right reasons.'
This is true. For the last week, he was debating on whether or not he should go through with this. She had a right to know about their marriage. That he had no trouble in debating. But is him telling her, more for her than for him? Or is it for her?That is what is bothering him, he actually doesn't know. His stupid guilt complex gets in the way of him trying to figure that out.
But when he thinks about his guilt, he immediately thinks about his uncle.
"Open up that big heart son. The possibilities it will bring will be worth it."
His uncle's advice echoes through his head. When he came back he thought about the three new lessons his uncle mentioned. He knows there was more to them than the surface like with his "great power" speech. And the more Peter thought about it, the more he realized that his uncle also wants him to trust MJ with more aspects of his life. And not just her, but maybe other people in his life as well.
'Relationships are all about trust.'
He takes a breath, "Mary Jane," he says as he looks at her beautiful green eyes, "There's something I have to tell you."
She gets a concerned expression, "What is it?"
He doesn't say anything for a few seconds, until finally, he says, "You know for the last week I've been going over how to tell you this in my head. I must have rehearsed it a thousand times in front of a mirror. And preparing myself for how you'd react," he slumps more than he already is, "But now that the moment is here, I am terrified."
MJ looks at him, still with concerned eyes but now also sympathetic, "You being involved in a trial to save the earth wasn't the tidbit that was eating you up, was it?"
He stays quiet again, trying to find the words and also preparing for the worst. Yet even as he braces himself, he still doesn't think he can handle her reaction.
He feels her hand slip into his and she squeezes as she says, "Peter, I can't promise I won't be mad. Let's be honest, your life is not an easy one to be a part of, but I can promise that I'll hear you out."
He squeezes her hand, and commits the feeling of it to memory because it may very well be the last time he gets to hold it, before he says, "We used to be married."
He hears her gasp as her hand slips out of his and he clenches his hand shut. He takes a breath and doesn't look up at her face as he can guess she is shocked to hear that bit of news. He just hopes she is willing to listen to everything he knows.
"I don't know the exact details," he continues with a heavy heart, "All I do know is that Aunt May was shot because Kingpin hired a hitman to come after me and the two of you." He wishes Uatu gave him more than just the littlest of information, "She was dying and I was so desperate to save her, that after going to everyone I know-"
"We made a deal with Mephisto."
His heart stops and his head turns so fast whiplash could have easily happened. He looks at the woman beside him as she has her head turned away from him.
"H-How did-" he tries to get out before it fully sets in and he asks with so much fear and heartache in his voice, "You remember?"
She doesn't verbally respond but instead turns her head down as she nods with tears coming out of her closed eyes.
Trying desperately not to throw up, and ignoring the constricting feeling he's not only feeling in his chest but his stomach as well, he asks her, "How long?"
MJ's breathing becomes a little uneven as she answers, "Harry's party. When he said it's a brand new day."
Shock can not even begin to describe what he is feeling right now. He doesn't think he's ever felt this way. He knows what it feels like when his whole world just comes crashing down on him. This moment here with this woman, this feels like he's trying to breathe without any lungs. Like it wasn't just his world that crashed on top of him but it got set on fire and put through the ice age at the same time. Its all burning down and yet he feels so cold.
And he is responsible for it.
"You-you've known for this long," he says in dismay as he drops his head into his hands, "Oh god."
His whole body starts to shake and a headache starts to form as he processes this information while he goes through a few phases. Shock, or whatever other word to better describe what he's feeling, at discovering the woman beside him has known about their marriage and the deal with the devil to erase it for over a year. Anger at her for not telling him about it. Shame and disgust at himself for being with Carlie Cooper and always claiming she was perfect for him. And finally, guilt, because he is the cause of her remembering their life together and it no longer existing.
He's trying so hard not to break down, however, the headache is just becoming worse and he still has more to say. So much more to tell her about what went on, but his mind is a whirlwind of emotions and turmoil that are just intensifying the headache.
The hairs on the back of his neck stand and he realizes, 'It's not a headache.'
It's his Spider-Sense. His eyes snap open, but he no longer sees the park. Instead, he sees himself in the middle of a street he doesn't recognize. The buildings don't match any of the boroughs in New York and he's seen them all enough to recognize when there's a scratch on one of the stone gargoyles in the city he vents to.
He then sees some people in flying metal suits with big guns attached converging into a crossroad in the middle of the streets. He looks down the street and sees a heavily fortified vehicle that looks to be a SHIELD transport. The people in the suits all fire at it and while the shots explode on impact, the transport vehicle remains mostly intact.
The back of it is popped open and he sees his friends, Luke Cage and Daredevil charge out while Emma Frost stays in the back.
"Peter!"
He is snapped out of his trance as he sees Mary Jane in front of him with an extremely worried expression. He also notices he's not sitting on the bench anymore but on his knees on the ground.
"Are you okay?" Mary Jane asks.
He breathes a little heavily, "I don't-" he shakes his head, "What just happened?"
"Your eyes kind of glowed for a second and you fell to the ground," MJ explains as she helps him back onto the bench, "What was that?"
He doesn't immediately respond, but collects himself and then says, "I saw my friends get attacked somewhere somehow."
Now Mary Jane gets confused, "How?"
He shakes his head, "I don't know," he stands up, "I have to-" he stops himself as he comes to remember what he was doing before his vision and he looks to the woman beside him, "Mary Jane I-"
"I know," she says as she stands up with a sad smile on her face, "Go. Do what you do best, tiger."
He tries to form a sentence but with everything that's happened, he can barely process what to do next. He goes to grab her hand but stops himself short, feeling it might be a bad move on his part. Instead, he closes his eyes before he looks down in shame, and walks away.
All the while thinking to himself, 'Typical Parker luck. I couldn't even have a moment to fix this.'
Meanwhile, the woman he left behind watches him walk away with a devastated look on her face. "I'm sorry." She then proceeds to walk away herself. Her head down and holding herself, in a way to try to comfort and keep herself together.
"I'm sorry for everything."
(San Francisco, Night Time)
In the back of a prisoner transport bus, Luke Cage sits in silent thought. He's been debating on what he has to do next concerning everything. Having a new daughter while being a leader of the New Avengers team isn't exactly an ideal lifestyle. The world nearly ended twice in the last week alone and he was smack dab in the middle of it all.
'Well, kind of,' the Harlem hero thinks to himself as he recalls his imprisonment, 'Sadistic assholes. Keeping us locked up in our own goddamn mind and toying with us the whole time.'
"Something you want to get off your chest?"
Luke looks up for a second at his new teammate, Daredevil, before he leans back and says, "Just remembering how messed up the thing with the mutants was. Them crazy ass motherfuckers had us locked up in our minds and tortured us the whole time."
"You're exaggerating."
He glares at the wall and states, "Ain't nobody asked for your opinion."
Silence once again follows suit as the bus continues on its path. Luke goes back to thinking about his situation while Daredevil listens to his surroundings.
"Let me ask you something," Luke asks the man without fear, "You like being an Avenger."
DD releases a small chuckle, "If you mean do I look forward to doing this every day? Then no I don't."
They both smile a little at the joke.
The protector of Hell's Kitchen leans forward, "Cosmic forces that are here to possess young girls so that they can restore the world and out-of-control crazy mutant terrorists who get off on torturing heroes-"
"You're grossly exaggerating it now."
"Pipe down."
Daredevil continues on, "I can handle crazy, but this is on a whole other level," he decides to get to the point Luke wants to talk about, "It's not an ideal life to raise a child in."
Luke becomes silent for a few seconds before he leans forward and grabs his head in frustration, "Rrrgh!"
Daredevil asks, "What's wrong?"
Luke sighs exhaustively, "I gotta make a decision, is what's wrong."
Figuring out what he's referring to, DD says, "This isn't the life for a man with a newborn baby."
"Babies are born every day and a lot are in worse situations than mine is in," he says in defense but not fully believing in his words.
"Those people don't have a choice," Daredevil retorts, "You do."
Luke knows that. He's been going over his and his family's situation over and over in his head since his daughter was born. And in all honesty, the clincher was Spider-Man's death. When he saw the man's body, a good man, he just knew that the life of an Avenger is not one for a family man like him. This kind of life is fine for a family like the Fantastic Four, who are a family of superheroes, but for some street guy who is not one for crazy adventures to other dimensions, well there really is only one option.
The man may be alive now, but Xavier wasn't that lucky.
The bulletproof man sighs, "I'm quitting," he says and DD is not surprised, "I gotta do it. I gotta get out before this whole thing just caves in on me and my family."
DD just nods in agreement, "That's fair. Although I am a little annoyed that you're leaving after I've only been here for a short time because you asked me to join."
"My bad man," Luke with a wince, "It's just, I got a baby now, and I never had something to lose before. I mean I thought I did, but I was fooling myself. A baby, as cliche as it sounds, once you got that your whole world changes. You realize that you are no longer the priority. That defenseless little thing is counting on you to-"
"Oh dear lord, does it ever end."
"Lady!" Luke glares at the doors, "I'm warning you for the last time to keep your mouth shut!"
Meanwhile, inside the cage, Emma Frost sits as comfortably as she can with her hands handcuffed behind her back as she sits on the floor of the transport.
"You can call me Emma," she says flirtatiously.
She hears a scoff from the other side of the doors, "Now I can call you 'Emma,'" the disgust in his voice when he said her name does irk her, "Cause just last week you and your crazy boyfriends wanted us to call you God."
"We never said that," she says annoyed. Both for the Avengers being so angry at them for what they did while under the influence of the Phoenix and for the rumor of her bedding both Cyclops and Namor. While not entirely wrong, she didn't physically sleep with the Atlantean King.
"You didn't need to," she hears Daredevil say, "You implied it very well.
"For real though, what did you guys think was gonna happen when it was all over?"
She rolls her eyes and sighs exhaustively, "The world was going to be a better place to live in. We were doing a service by fixing everything that is wrong with it. Isn't that what you all do? Isn't that what you want for your little girl?"
"No matter the cost?" DD says.
The psychic rolls her eyes again and says, "If you're referring to Spider-Man, he was a necessary sacrifice for the greater good. And in all honesty a very unimportant and inconsequential one."
"Well, I'm pretty sure he and the people that love him would disagree."
She gets a smug look, "Then it's fortunate that his opinion no longer matters."
Silence follows her taunt. She knows they are livid at such a blatant disregard for their dear friend's death. She couldn't care, however. After all the world isn't-
"You don't know."
She heard Daredevil say and she gets confused.
"Know what?" Emma asks through the doors.
She hears some chuckling before she hears Luke say, "Didn't you hear? Spidey's alive again."
Stunned at that, Emma quickly says, "Your lying. That's impossible."
"Not from what we heard," Daredevil says.
Even though she is not able to read their minds, she can still tell that they are telling the truth from their satisfied tones. That and them not rising to her taunt.
"How did Hope revive him?" Emma quietly asks herself.
The man without fear still heard her, "It wasn't Hope that brought him back. Apparently, he came back to life after encasing himself in a cocoon."
"I heard it was a bunch of itty bitty spiders that ate him up and pieced him back together."
She blocks out all the chattering the two buffoons are spewing and instead focuses on this new revelation. Spider-Man is alive. Normally such a thing wouldn't trouble her, she hardly knew the man and didn't care for him at all despite him being an ally to the X-Men. However, the fact that the Phoenix wanted the man dead and him being alive now means something.
What it means she doesn't know. She didn't pry too much into the desires of the Phoenix. The entity wanted Charles dead for obvious reasons, but its desire for Spider-Mans death was a mystery. Now hearing the man is alive by other means outside of the Phoenix, well Emma doesn't believe in coincidences.
She was about to ask more before she hears Daredevil say, "Wait, what's-Brace yourself!"
SHABUOOM! X12
Multiple explosions hit the transport vehicle and capsize it. Though it remains intact, the occupants still wind up disoriented.
"Damnit!" Cage shouts in frustration as he regains his bearing, "Can't we have a normal day!?"
"HOMOSAPIENS IS THE ONLY TRUE WORK OF GOD!"
Emma hears some familiar lines through what sounds like a speaker from a group that she hoped she and her former fellow cosmic power wielders had destroyed.
The Church of Humanity.
"MUTANTS ARE THE WORK OF THE DEVIL!"
"YE SERPENTS OF SATAN, SHALL NOT BE SPARED FROM THE DAMNATION OF HELL!"
"FOR MAN TO LIVE, MUTANTS SHALL DIE!"
Ignoring the twisted verses, DD gets his bearings back while Luke just stands back up, bulletproof skin does a hell of a job cushioning explosions. The two Avengers in the back quickly get back on their feet and approach the door.
"They are heavenly armed," DD states as he hears the mechanisms of the suits, "And I'm picking up at least twelve," he tilts his head to the side, "More are on the way."
Their prisoner decides to give them some insight, "They are mutant-hating purifiers. Their zealotry makes them uncaring of any collateral damage," she then comes up with an idea, "Take this power dampener off. You'll need my help."
They both ignore as Daredevil asks, "Ready?"
Luke nods, "Ready."
"You first."
"I'm always first," he jokingly complains, "Bulletproof skin makes me the meat shield of the team."
Daredevil smiles at his joke before he tenses up in preparation for bolting out the door. He lets his senses wander so that he can plan his attacks accordingly. But he jerks to the side when he senses something familiar.
"Wait," he says as he gestures stop to Luke, "How did-"
"What is it?"
DD's confused look doesn't leave as he says, "We got back up."
Now Luke is the one that gets confused, "You're kidding."
DD shakes his head as he lets he hears the familiar sounds of repulsors, flying magic hammers, and web shooters. Sounds that he is relieved but also surprised to hear.
"Half tempted to stay here and let them deal with these crazies," Luke says as he tenses up again to break through the door, "But I want some payback from these guys ruining what could have been my first normal day."
A very sad but true statement.
"Gentlemen," Emma tries to get their attention, "You need my help. Believe me, you cannot-"
"Go!" Luke shouts as he pushes the doors open with his teammate following behind him.
Once they get outside they are immediately fired on by the enemy. They witness a scene of a one-sided battle. Iron Man is blasting them with multiple weapons that come with his armor. Repulsors, missiles, and even punching them.
All the while, Thor is being ganged up on by a dozen or so of the Zealots, but it does not make a difference to the god of thunder.
"Come at me, villains!" Thor shouts as he hits a foe with his hammer, launching the man into a building, "Let us see if your beliefs will protect you from the wrath of the God of Thunder!"
"GOD DID NOT CREATE MUTANTS!" One of the zealots shouts as he blasts Odinson from behind, "IN THE BEGINNING, GOD CREATED THE HEAVENS AND THE EARTH! THE EARTH WAS WITHOUT FORM AND VOID, AND DARKNESS WAS OVER THE FACE OF THE DEEP!"
Daredevil, being a churchgoer despite what his outfit suggests, shouts back as he attacks the zealot from behind, "What about." he hits it in a vulnerable spot in the back he senses, "For the whole law is fulfilled in one word, Ye shall love your neighbor as you love yourself!"
"And no wonder," another one of the zealots spouts as he and two of his nearby fellow zealots turn their attention to DD, "For even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light."
They fire at him and he leaps off the attacker as said man takes the blast.
Meanwhile, in the front of the transport in the driver's seat, Bobbi Morse, aka Mockingbird, just clenches the wheel as hard as she can. Only receiving a bump on the head, she is just annoyed that something as simple as a prisoner transport mission goes awry.
"Zzzzzz."
She looks at her traveling companion, The Thing, and sees the man is still sleeping. She is slightly jealous of both his resting and his being able to rest through this.
"Benjamin!" Mockingbird loudly calls out.
Thing snorts as his eyes pop slightly open, "Wazzat," he says sleepily, "We dere ye, Bobbi?"
"We're under attack!" Bobbi says as she unstraps herself.
The large rock man groans as he closes his eyes again, "Youdoit. Sleepy."
She looks at him incredulously, "Seriously? You're just gonna sleep through this!"
"Zzzzzz."
She drops her incredulous expression for a dull one as she watches the big man fall back to sleep like nothing is wrong. She doesn't dwell on it too long as she quickly opens her door and springs into action by attacking the nearest enemy.
The foe sees her and fires at her but she dodges and it hits the front of the transport causing an explosion where The Thing is sleeping. She also listens to the woman preach about some verses but Bobbi doesn't listen and she hits her just to shut her up. The SHIELD agent turns her attention back to the transport with worry over her friend being hurt.
That worry disappears as quickly as a bullet flying out of a gun as she sees Grimm still asleep with some scorch marks on him.
Un-freaking-believable.
Back at the rear entrance of the transport, Emma Frost runs out with frustration evident in her face. Both at the power dampener she is wearing around her neck that prevents her to fight for herself and at the zealots attacking her for no reason other than her being a mutant.
Well, maybe she and her friends killing a large number of their group members might have something else to do with it.
She hears some debris shifting and turns her attention to her right. She tenses up as she sees one of the COH members pointing his weapon at her as it charges up.
"Abomination," he says with venom in his voice.
Not having her powers and seeing all the other 'heroes' busy fighting the other zealots, Emma merely stares down the barrel of the gun with no fear. She will not give this man the satisfaction of seeing her in such a state.
Just before he fires a red and blue blur manages to point the weapon away, causing the blast to hit another zealot.
"You have no idea how annoyed I am with you all."
Her eyes widen in shock at the one who saved her.
'Spider-Man,' she thinks in surprise as she watches the man tear the gun off and kicks the zealot away, 'He is alive. But how?'
He tosses the gun away and then proceeds to fire a glob of webbing at her. Once it impacts she then finds herself attached to the outside roof of the transport she was just in.
"Don't go anywhere," he says not looking back at her with an irritated tone.
He then proceeds to jump back into the fray with a kick to the head of another COH member. All the while frost is left to watch as the man, that was wanted dead by a powerful cosmic force, goes and fights an enemy that wants her dead.
'How?'
(Sanctum Sanctorium)
Inside the former home of Doctor Stephen Strange, the former Sorcerer Supreme,(AN: Yeah, I just remembered the guy wasn't the sorcerer supreme at this point. So I don't know whether or not he was living here. Sorry.), is in a meditative stance while floating in the air with several books floating with him and one in his face. He is doing some research in regard to helping his recently revived acquaintance, Spider-Man, with his problem. And after doing extensive research on the matter, he found several solutions.
Though hardly any are viable.
'Except one,' the man thinks to himself with a sigh.
He senses a familiar presence wishing to enter the household. With a wave of his hand, he allows them in. After a few moments of traversing the magical house, the person enters the library.
"Julia," he greets as he doesn't take his eyes off the book he is reading, "it is good to see you."
Julia Carpenter, aka Madam Web. Psychic and seer for the web of life and destiny.
"Doctor," she greets back as she stands behind him, "I would say the same if circumstances were different."
Normally that would be a joke to her eyesight, or lack thereof, but the tone she said that in makes Stephen look at her curiously.
"What is it?"
"That's the problem," she says with an irritated tone, "I don't know," Strange looks at her curiously and she continues, "I am used to seeing all the outcomes in life. All the good and all the bad. Yet now nothing is certain."
Knowing what she is referring to, the good doctor looks back into the book he was reading. He wouldn't personally know, but from his study's way back when he was training to be a sorcerer he can understand what she is feeling. There have been many seers in history that have been able to see the future and then lose the ability to do so because of certain circumstances.
'Like deals with the devil,' he thinks to himself irritatingly.
"How could he do this?" Julia asks.
Strange answers with a peeved tone, "He made an idiotic decision. There's not much else to it."
"I'm not talking about Peter," she quickly states getting him to look at her confused, "I'm talking about Mephistopheles. How was he able to do this?"
Now Strange is really confused, "It was a deal."
She may not be an expert on the demon, but she should at least be aware of deals with devils.
She sighs in exasperation, "You don't understand," she steps closer to the doctor, "Mephistopheles made a deal with Spider-Man that altered his life. Yet that alteration is not shown."
That shocks the good doctor, "Wait what?"
Julia nods in affirmation, "That demon's deal with Peter was somehow hidden from the web."
Strange looks at her in shock. Unable to believe her words.
"That's impossible," he says with fear in his voice.
From his knowledge of the web, limited as it may be, he understands that it has a recorded history of its totems. Nothing is hidden from it, it's impossible to do so. And something as massive as a deal with Mephisto not being seen/recorded, well Stephen is now worried about what else the demon might have done.
Julia, knowing what the magic user is thinking, nods in agreement, "Exactly. Yet somehow he managed to do it. How he did this remains a mystery. And that's what bothers me."
Strange stays silent for a few more moments before he sighs, "Julia," he calls out to the blind woman, "As much as I would like to help in solving this mystery, right now I have more pressing matters to deal with," he once again turns his attention back to his research, "And it involves Peter."
"You're referring to him being the new host of the Phoenix."
He raises an eyebrow in surprise as he looks at her, "You know?"
She nods, "Before his resurrection, he came to the web with the intention to speak with the Other."
Another shock, though slightly less fear in this one, emulates through Strange, "What? The Other?"
"Yes he spoke with the Other because he needed to," she says before going into more detail as to why, "He chose to take on the responsibility to be the new avatar for the Phoenix, but him being the webs champion meant he already had expectations he had to meet."
Not wanting to pry too much into the affairs of such a being, Strange simply asks, "What did the Other say?"
Julia shrugs, "I don't know. I was not present when they had their conversation," she turns her head in annoyance, "I was only made aware that they were. What I do know is that Peter came back, new and improved so to speak."
"And what does that mean?"
Julia gets a very serious face as she says, "He evolved."
(San Fransisco)
"GOD CREATED MAN IN HIS OWN IMAGE, IN THE IMAGE OF-"
"Will you shut up!?" Spider-Man angrily shouts as he punches his foe hard enough in the chest to launch him up before he grabs onto his leg and slams him back down, "You people are so annoying! And that's coming from me!"
He blitzes over to where Thing is, as the larger man slams two of the zealot's heads together. Spidey quickly fires a line on one of the enemies that was trying to sneak up on his friend and swings him to hit another in the air.
Thing sees this and says, "Thanks Web-Head!"
"Don't mention it!" Spidey responds with attitude as he tears off the armor of another enemy and pulls him out of the armor.
Ben jerks back in surprise at his friend's tone, "Yow! Who peed in your cornflakes?"
Spider-Man knocks the man in his hand with a punch before he sighs in frustration, "Sorry," he says as he leaps into the air before he fires two web lines down, "I was in the middle of something important," he pulls the lines and slams down on another enemy, "When these guys decided to do this! So I'm a little agitated right now!"
Thing clotheslines two COH members as he shouts, "Well take it out on them! Not me"
"Believe me, Ben!" Spider-Man slingshots himself forward and hits a zealot precise enough to tear him out of his suit but not kill him, "I am and will do just that!"
Ben watches on in mild surprise, "Oof, boy," he says out loud, "Ya tink after comin back ta life, da guy would be more upbeat."
Then again, he's just basing it off of how Johnny has been.
Meanwhile, the other heroes are finishing off the remains of the Church of Humanity. They were able to do so quickly thanks in part to the timely arrival of Iron Man, Thor, and Spider-Man.
And one person is very curious about how that happened.
"So," Daredevil starts as he throws his billy club and it ricochets off two zealots' heads before coming back to him, "You mind telling me how you arrived in the nick of time to save our sorry behinds."
Thor throws his hammer to hit one zealot before he punches another, "Stark called me in for assistance."
Iron Man blasts another zealot with his repulsors as he says, "Did some research and found out our man who gave us the tip about the imminent attack on Frost, the Warden, is actually a member of the group."
'He's lying,' DD thinks to himself as he hears the man's heartbeat.
There was truth in his statement, but the man's heartbeat did change slightly when the question was asked. He's dealt with enough people to know when and how to look for lies when the truth is told with them.
Before he can voice his thoughts, Spider-Man comes in swinging and hits a zealot with enough force to crack the ground. DD raises an eyebrow in surprise at the display of such force. Normally the webhead would hold back more. Granted the enemy is still alive but he senses a few cracked ribs.
Iron Man scans the area and notes, "That's the last of them."
The heroes sigh in relief as one of the COH members decides to throw one last line.
"F-For the wages of sin is death," he coughs out, "But the free gift of God is eternal life."
"I don't give a f &k," Luke Cage quotes back, "Tupac Shakur."
Some of the heroes smile at that, except two. One because he is unfamiliar with the Midgardian known as Tupac of Shakur, another famous scholar perhaps like Newton or Chaplin? ;) The other hero isn't smiling because he is too dang mad to enjoy anything right now.
"Great," Spider-Man says with impatience, "We're all good now. Let's go home."
The others look at him curiously, wondering why he has such an attitude. They know him for being more upbeat and annoyingly unfunny.
"Not so fast, webhead," Iron Man says from the air, "Where did you leave Frost?"
The agitated hero sighs before he leaps over to where the transport is tipped over to check if the prisoner is still where he left her. He lands on top of the convoy and sees her and she doesn't look up at him. She appears to be in deep thought.
"She's still here!" Spidey calls out to his friends, "Now can we go home?!"
He is hoping nothing else prevents him from doing so. He's strung up enough with everything, and if one more thing happens to agitate him he's gonna-
"Why did the Phoenix want you dead?" Frost suddenly asks without looking up at him, knocking him out of his thoughts and tensing him up.
Spider-Man tries to play it off, "Pardon?"
"The Phoenix," she reiterates with eyes narrowed in suspicion, "It wanted you dead. It told me as much but never told me why," she finally looks up at him, "Why did it want you dead?"
He leaps off the heavily damaged vehicle and stands in front of her with a thoughtful posture, "That is a good question."
He's hoping she just gets annoyed at him and lays off.
She raises her eyebrow in an accusing manner, "You're saying you don't know?"
He tries to think of something, but sighs as he gives her a bland look, "You know what, frost? Normally I'd make a quip or bad joke in response to that, but I'm so~ not in the mood for it. So I'll just leave you wondering."
With that said he walks away from her. Which incenses the White Queen. Nobody dismisses her. Especially not some third-rate hero.
"Oh what's the matter," she says mockingly, "discovered your death didn't have such an impact on the world as you would have liked," he stops walking but doesn't look back as she continues to taunt him with a smug smile, "Perhaps if you did something of more importance then-"
BAM!
She jolts back and blinks as he's suddenly standing in front of her with his fist indented in the transport vehicle she was just in. The same one that took multiple blasts from weapons that hurt both Luke Cage and The Thing. And though she can't see his face she can assume he is livid.
"Like I said Frost," he says coldly as he peels the section of metal from the vehicle she is attached to off easily, "I'm not in the mood."
Once he peels it off completely, Emma is now attached to a piece of metal. He helps her stay on her feet and walks her past all sorts of people. Firefighters, policemen, heroes, and worse news reporters. She keeps her head low as she is handed off to some SHIELD agent.
"You could have at least taken this off," she says trying to save face.
He turns his back on her again, "Why?" Spider-Man's sarcastic voice by everyone nearby, "You that desperate to show yourself off like you usually do. We've all seen better."
"Ohhh."
She blushes in humiliation at the jeers from the people around as they heard him say that to her.
She opens her mouth to retort-
THWIP
-but couldn't due to her mouth being webbed shut.
"Look at that, I did something important for the world," he says with hardly any amusement as he turns back around and walks away, "You're welcome everyone."
She glares at his back for now twice humiliating her in public.
"Dang," she hears someone say and turns to see Ben Grimm and some law enforcement officials with amused expressions, "Bet ya wish you and yer friends didn't kill da guy now huh?"
On the contrary, she just wishes she did it personally and slowly. And she swears if she gets the chance she will make it happen.
As she gets loaded into another transport vehicle, with some difficulty since she is still attached to the piece of metal and nobody seems to want to help her out of it, she begins to think again about the Phoenix and Spider-Man's connection to it.
'What is the connection?' Frost thinks to herself while she is loaded into the vehicle.
Meanwhile back with the other heroes, some of them, who saw and heard what happened, are smiling. While others are frowning in slight concern.
"Should we be worried?" Daredevil asks the Avengers around him.
Tony shakes his head, "Nah," he says dismissively, "The guy was killed by them. He's got a right to be ticked with them."
DD supposes that's true on some level, but his fellow street hero isn't the type to hold grudges. Well, usually.
He arrives in front of them and looks at Iron Man, "Can we go now?"
There is definitely some attitude in his voice, but he's trying to play it off as exhausted.
The billionaire shrugs his shoulders, "Sure."
They proceed to walk away.
"Hold up," Luke Cage calls out to them as he hands a cell phone back to a police officer and walks towards them, "I'm calling for a meeting tomorrow morning. Got something important to tell you guys."
Spider-Man groans, "You can't tell me now."
Luke gets a little mad at the attitude, "It's important."
"It's just-" Spidey starts before he bites his tongue and groans to the sky, "Fine. I'll be there but I can't stay longer than an hour or two at most."
A little more annoyed, Luke asks, "You got something more important to do?"
"I do actually," Spidey retorts back before he gestures to the area, "Something I was doing before this happened, but I stopped because my friends were in trouble."
Luke then gets a hard look, "Nobody asked you to come."
"If it wasn't for me nobody would have before the fight started!" Spider-Man harshly responds.
The heroes that were part of the transport, excluding Thing, reel back in surprise.
"Okay," Tony says grabbing all their attention before he stands between the two and faces Spidey, "Let's get you home before you do something we both know you will feel guilty for later."
Not giving him a chance to say anything, Iron Man gently pushes the younger hero along. While the others watch the two walk away, the one with the super hearing listens in on their quiet conversation.
"Something you want to get off your chest."
A few moments of silence before a sigh, "She remembers."
"What are-wait, you mean she-? Like the deal?"
"Not just the deal. She remembers it all. That whole life. Everything I forgot. And after just finding that out, this whole nonsense happened."
"...Wow. Okay, yeah I can see why your upset."
"Yup."
"What are you gonna do?"
Sigh, "I wish I knew."
Daredevil is usually more respective of his friend's and colleagues' personal lives, for the most part. But considering what happened today, how three Avengers showed up just when a battle was getting started, well he doesn't feel the need to give much privacy at the moment.
"Well it's pretty late in the day, so your not gonna be able to talk to her now."
"I know. Honestly, I just wanted to crawl into bed and end the day, maybe after a night on patrol when I was done beating up some crooks."
"Not willing to settle for some mutant-hating preachers."
"Not when I'm saving the life of someone like Frost."
With that said, Spider-Man climbs on the billionaire's back and rides him home.
DD tilts his head curiously, "Huh, that explains how he got here with them."