Another Day
(Avengers Mansion)
Tony Stark, the Invincible Iron Man, stands on the sidewalk outside the gates of the newly rebuilt Avengers mansion by himself in a suit and tie. The mansion looks to be brand-spanking-new and the lawn is fixed from the damage that was done yesterday. The wealthy man is currently waiting for his friend and teammate, Steve Rogers to show up. And it is a very odd thing for him because it is usually the other way around. And when Tony is late, he gets lectures and looks from Mr. Punctuality.
Anyway, the reason why he's on time and not late like usual is that he and Steve want to have a discussion with the new owner of the mansion, Spider-Man. A discussion regarding the new team Steve is putting together in hopes of mending bridges between Avengers and X-Men.
'And what better way to mend bridges than to have someone they killed be a part of the team.' Tony thinks to himself as he looks at his watch.
"Got a hot date you're late for, bub?"
Tony looks up and sees Logan, also in his civies that consists of a leather jacket, t-shirt, and jeans, step out of a cab. The old mutant was invited by Rogers to be part of the new team. Though he has yet to be informed of it.
And Tony is not gonna spoil that surprise.
"Just annoyed how I'm on time and Rogers is the one that's late," Stark snarks.
Logan stands next to him and arches an eyebrow, "Really? He's usually on time or early."
"Right!"
The older man shrugs before he looks at the gates and then back at the billionaire, "So why are we waiting out here and not inside?"
Again, not wanting to spoil any surprises, Tony gestures to the mansion and tells part of the truth, "Cap and I need to talk to Thwippy about him owning this place. Figured it'd be best to wait for Cap so we could talk to him. "
Though they have yet to call him to come over to talk. But that's because Tony figured he'd be busy. Busy getting busy that is. He has high hopes that the guy and his supermodel ex worked things out.
"Right~, I heard he bought the place." Logan says before he smirks in amusement, "Also heard it fell apart when he did."
Tony nods as he chuckles, "It did. Got it recorded too."
Logan raises an eyebrow inquisitively, "And you didn't spread that around?"
Tony gets a little hesitant, "I'll wait until we're better friends first."
"Thought the two of you are good now?" Logan questions.
"We are." Tony shrugs with uncertainty, "But still feel there are some unresolved issues between us."
Logan rolls his eyes at the dramatic billionaire, "Invite him to get your nails and hair done."
Unperturbed by the comment, Tony gets a thoughtful look, "You know my girl Regina does an amazing job with my nails and Felipe is second to none when it comes to hair styling."
Logan gives him a flat look, "The sad thing is I know you're not joking."
Tony shrugs with a shameless smile. He knows how vain he is and he is not ashamed to admit it. He's not even fond of the grays in his hair, but he tries to make it work as best as he can.
As for his body, well nobody needs to know all his secrets.
In that train of thought, he thinks about Peter trusting him with his secrets. Whether that was because he wanted to tell the other three and Tony being a part of the Illuminati merely was a matter of convenience or the guy wants to trust Tony again is entirely up for debate. Either way, he is not gonna screw this up again. He is gonna try his damndest to prove he can be trusted by the younger man again.
And he has just the way to prove it.
He's taken out of his thoughts when a limo pulls up and out comes the passenger, who is the man he was waiting on in casual clothing. He holds open the door for someone else to exit, a young girl who Tony and Logan were not expecting to see again.
Hope Summers. The Savior of Mutant-kind. (AN: Kept autocorrecting to mankind)
Tony ignores her for the moment and focuses on his friend as he shakes his head in mock disappointment, "Tsk tsk tsk tsk tsk, Cap you are late. You know the drill. Ten laps around the city. Hop to it."
Steve, used to his friend's antics, just walks up to them and says, "I'm only late because I was picking up Hope." Steve walks past his friend, scans his card, and the gates open, "Don't worry, I'll make sure she does ten laps around the city."
Hope gets an incredulous expression as she looks at the WWII vet, "You're kidding, right?"
The man's good-natured smile at her does nothing to alleviate her worry as he walks forward through the open gates. She then turns to Logan and silently asks him.
"Relax." He gives her a reassuring smile and pats her shoulder, "Think of it as a life lesson. Never make Captain America late for anything."
"…I saved the mutant race and the world. Why am I being punished?"
The three grown men laugh at her sour face. They all proceed to walk through the front lawn of the mansion and take in the sites. The fact that it was a battlefield from the day prior is no longer evident. Now it looks as good as it did before. Fountains and other tacky statues scattered about. Stylized bushes and trees that resemble animals. She heard that at one point they were designed to look like Avenger members.
"See it pays to be the richest man on the planet." Hope comments on how fast this was all done as she takes in the sites, "Just yesterday this place was a warzone."
Tony shrugs dismissively, but still smugly smiles, "Eh, years of paying for damages done to my properties taught me to always have spares."
Logan scoffs, "I bet." Before he looks at the young girl, "So what brings you by, kid?"
Hope pouts as she doesn't appreciate him regarding as a child, "I'm here to see Spider-Man."
"She told us she was looking for her father, after we found her sleeping in an alleyway." Steve gives her a disapproving frown, to which she rolls her eyes. "We invited her to join the Avengers. She said she would consider it after she spoke with Spider-Man first."
Logan raises a curious eyebrow at him before he looks at her, "What? You plan to confess to him or something?"
Hope gets appalled at his joke. "Ew! No! I just want to talk to the guy." he raises an eyebrow at her to explain, "Look, back when I was training, everyone who was a part of that offered a lot of good advice. But in all honesty, he gave me the best advice."
All three gentlemen nod in understanding to what she is referring to, as Logan voices it, "Power and responsibility right." She nods in confirmation, "Yeah, can't tell ya how many times I heard him give that speech of his. Though most think Giant Man came up with it."
Nobody knows how that rumor got started. Logan knows that it annoyed the Queens-born hero when he was told. And the man all but demanded that everyone made sure that they told people he was the one who came up with the speech.
In a way, it was kind of funny though.
They arrive at the entrance when they hear some muffled music. They open the door to an unexpected sight.
(AN: Play "Happy" by 2C2 or watch a dance video and pretend it's Spider-Man cause I cannot write dance descriptions at all.)
(0:00)
In front of the newly made archway that connects the living room and the hall entrance, Peter Parker slides in with his back turned and hands on his hips in his underwear, boxers with hearts and a sleeveless white undershirt. He swings his hips in rhythm with the music before he turns around.
He begins to dance with his eyes closed and a big smile on his face. Jerky movements at first before they become sporadic. He swings his legs around as he travels more into the hall entrance of the mansion.
The reason why he's dancing? Because he feels like he's on top of the world. After the brief skirmish with Sonja, she reverted back to Mary Jane and he spent the night with her. He was exhausted but my god was it worth it. More so when Sonja wanted a turn.
That hurt more but again totally worth it!
Best night of his life! Nothing and nobody can bring him down!
(Stop playing song/video at 1:00)
The music suddenly stops as he turns around and he opens his eyes, "Hey what happened to the-?" He finally notices he's no longer alone, "Oh."
Steve Rogers and Tony Stark stand side by side each other as one of them has a blank look with his arms crossed over his chest while the other has an amused look with his hands on his hips.
Peter straightens himself and acts like he has any dignity in his underwear, "Steve, Tony." He then notices the two others standing closer to the door, "Logan, Hope."
The two mutants also have different expressions. The younger one has a disturbed look while the older one has an expression that says he is not surprised by this.
Peter doesn't know how to feel about that.
"Breaking in the mansion I see." The amusement is as evident in the billionaire's voice as it is on his face, "Pretty tamed compared to what I would do."
"If I did what you did, I'd end up on TMZ."
Tony concedes to that.
Meanwhile, behind Stark and Rogers, Hope and Logan have a conversation of their own.
She looks at the hero, whose face she hasn't seen until now, in both curiosity and disturbed, "So that's what Spider-Man looks like underneath his mask?"
Logan nods, "Yup."
She analyzes his face and features with a critical eye. To her, he seems like an average-looking guy. Not really all that discernible. He doesn't have movie star good looks but certainly has a physique that would suggest as much. Seems well groomed but maybe a bit on the nerdy side of it with his heart pattern underwear.
"Not what I expected."
"Never is."
Back with the two in front, Steve sighs as he rubs his eyes, "Is there a reason for this? Or is this something you do on a regular basis?"
Peter opens his mouth to respond-
"Hey, tiger! What happened to the-oh!"
Only to immediately snap it shut when Mary Jane Watson slides into view in the same manner Peter did moments prior. The woman is wearing an apron long enough to reach her thighs. And he knows that's all she is wearing to cover up that she is also in her underwear.
Tony, Steve, and Logan are surprised to see her, but Hope is shocked by her. One she's never met this woman, two she is not the redhead she saw on TV, and three she is way too pretty to be with the guy who was just dancing in his underwear. Not very well either.
"Um." MJ straightens up and grabs onto the apron tightly in a vain attempt to have it cover herself more, and walks over towards Peter as she slowly and politely greets the two people she knows, "Captain Rogers. Mister Stark."
"Ms. Watson." They politely greet back and watch her move to stand beside the owner of the mansion, who looks as if he's in silent prayer.
This was not what the reformed couple wanted. They expected to have some privacy before the place became active. After concluding that neither of their places would be as such, Peter thought that, even though it was not under construction anymore, nobody would come by his newly acquired mansion since it was too much of a tourist spot right now.
Evidently, he was wrong.
"Well~." Tony's amusement has increased even more as he wiggles his eyebrows, "I guess the two of you talked things out."
Logan, with his own amused smirk, adds, "Or did you just grunt."
"Logan!" Steve reprimands him as Tony snorts and tries to cover it up as a cough.
Peter gives the old mutant a dirty look while MJ looks like she wants the earth to swallow her up, "Oh god."
"How many times did you say-thwip-Mmph?!"
Peter lowers his hand after firing organic webbing at his friend's mouth and then steps in front of Mary Jane, "Alright gentlemen. Nothing to see here." She climbs onto his back and he walks backwards up the steps, "Don't go trying to see something you're not supposed to. Point your peepers in another direction."
None of them, not even Steve, look away as he continues to walk backwards up the stairs with the redhead's arms around his neck and her face buried in the back of it. He reaches the top steps while still using his body to better cover MJs. Even as they disappear into the hallway of the second floor, the people on the first floor just stare at the point of disappearance.
Tony shakes his head amusingly, "And he was saying he wouldn't wind up on TMZ."
Low-tier superhero and top-tier supermodel/actress hooking up in Avengers Mansion. The pride in his chest almost brings a tear to his eye.
"I don't think they're planning to advertise as you would," Steve bursts his bubble.
Behind the two, Hope looks at the point of disappearance curiously, "She looks like that other woman but smaller and daintier. Are they related?"
Steve and Tony look at each other before Tony shrugs at her, "In a way."
Logan raises an eyebrow at them as he removes the webbing from his mouth, not all that mad about it either, while Hope's gaze lingers at the top of the steps and she scratches her head, "Who is she?"
Logan opens his mouth to tell her but sees a magazine on the table in the middle of the foyer and a light bulb goes off in Logan's head, "Hang on." he goes to the table and picks out a magazine before he hands it over to the younger mutant, "Here."
Hope raises an eyebrow at him before she takes it and becomes gobsmacked at who she sees on the cover, "Mary Jane Watson?!" Hope looks at them, "One of the biggest models and actresses in the world?! He knows her?!"
They nod in confirmation. And Hope's brain shuts down for a second as she tries to process this information. She doesn't know either of them personally so she's just going off on the little information she knows. And she knows that there is no way in hell that Spider-Man, the biggest dork she knows, is dating a freakin' supermodel!
"You know about her?"
Her brain reboots as she looks back at the cover, "Yeah I've seen her on some covers of my dad's magazines that I pretended not to know about."
Tony and Logan look at each other and think the same thing. Can someone say Oedipus complex?
Hope looks at the hallway up the stairs they disappeared through, "So what? Is she like a groupie for heroes or something?"
"Heh no." Logan's rueful tone makes her look at him curiously, "From what he's told me, she's always hated this part of his life. Mostly because of the sacrifices and inconveniences. Hell, he missed his wedding with her because of it."
"Seriously?" Hope says in disbelief and when Logan nods she winces, "Ouch."
Tony looks at Steve with a smug look. Rogers rolls his eyes and walks into the living room. So maybe Tony's plan has more merit than he is giving him credit for.
Entering a reconstructed bedroom with only a bed and dresser with a mirror, Peter steps in before he closes the door with his foot, and then Mary Jane slides off his back with a blushing mortified face.
Seeing this, Peter rhetorically questions, "Was that embarrassing for you?"
"Are you kidding!?" Mary Jane says in disbelief before she covers her face with her hands, "It was mortifying! That was not the first impression I wanted to make!"
"Well they already associate you with Sonja so..." He says in hopes to reassure her, but all that does is get her to glare at him, "I'm gonna stop talking."
"Good boy."
Chainmail bikini. Still not a preferred attire for her.
She goes over to get dressed as Peter picks up the tattered remains of his suit. Seeing that at this point the suit is just rags being held together by strings he opts to do what he did when he was resurrected. But he'll use his web shooters for better precision.
"Look, first impressions matter, sure," He web weaves together a pair of pants first, "But all you have to do is prove yourself to them and then you're golden."
MJ slips on her shirt and watches as he makes a shirt too, "I mean I kinda already did with your whole possession situation."
He webs up some shoes and a mask, "Technically that was Sonja."
He finishes his ensemble and checks himself in the mirror, and while it's not a bad look he doesn't want to make this a regular on. The webbing just doesn't look good and a design. As he continues to admire his handiwork, he sees in the mirror Mary Jane giving him another dirty look behind.
"What?" Peter gets confused before his eyes widen as he realizes what he said sounded like, "No no no! I meant that they saw Sonja do all that! Okay? I didn't mean to-!"
"Stop." She tells him and he snaps his mouth shut. She knows what he meant, but my god does he need to work on wording things better.
As she continues to get dressed, she thinks about what she plans to do today. She had no real ideas other than maybe hanging out with some friends and going clubbing later, but now that she is part of this life she knows there comes a lot of responsibility. Though that doesn't mean she is sacrificing her hard-earned career for it. She just needs to figure out how to make it work.
"Maybe start with learning the mystic arts?"
Not a bad idea. It is a good step toward making herself more capable as a hero. The only problem is that there is only one person she can talk to about learning magic; that person is not exactly her and Peter's favorite right now.
"Sacrifices have to be made."
Ugh, she knows that. Still doesn't mean she has to be happy about it.
"Speaking of unhappy actions…"
Oh right.
"Are you gonna talk to Felicia?" MJ asks Peter as she finishes getting dressed.
He gets a bit of a surprised expression before he gets pensive and sits down on the end of the bed, "Honestly? I'm not sure. Right now I'm a little peeved at her. The last time I saw her, she was kissing Daredevil."
He told her that and she is still finding that annoying, "Peter."
"I know I'm just being petty and jealous." He says with a face like that of a petulant child, "She and he are single and they can do what they want."
The actress walks up to him and strokes his head, "It just shows you do care about her."
He gets an uncertain expression, "How is this supposed to work? Do I just go up to her and say, 'Hey Cat, want to be in a three-way with me and MJ?'"
She raises a suggestive eyebrow, "I'm pretty sure she wouldn't be against the idea."
Well maybe. Peter thinks the notorious thief would do it just to show the supermodel up. They would constantly try to one-up each other and he would be in the middle of it all. Their contests would be things that he would both shamefully enjoy and, knowing how his life has a tendency to pan out, he would regret on some level.
Oddly enough, MJ has the same train of thought.
"This 'frenemy' business seems complicated."
Mary Jane can't argue with that. Frenemies have always been a messy part of her life. Gwen was the first one when she was younger. Though that girl tried her damndest to be more friend than enemy with MJ, and the redhead didn't reciprocate. Back then to her, they were still more frenemies than anything. But in truth, they did become friends.
His sigh gets her to refocus on him, "Are you sure you're okay with this?"
She raises an eyebrow, "Did you forget Sonja was involved last night?"
"Thank you."
He winces as he rubs his hip, "It's hard to forget when she was the one that chipped my pelvis."
"I didn't hear him complain when it happened." MJ did but it was buried under the other sounds that were being made, "Oh."
She huffs in amusement before she lets go of his hand to hug him lightly and he holds her around the waist with his face in her stomach as she holds him around his neck with her head on top of his.
"Look, I can't tell you how to approach the subject with her." She says soothingly, "All I can tell you is that do what you feel is right."
He pulls back on their hug and looks at her with trepidation, "And what if I'm not entirely sold on the idea."
"More likely he's not sure you are." Mj rolls her eyes as she reiterates, "I told you, I'm not making you choose again." He frowns at being caught, "Besides, Sonja is already involved in this."
"And I am very thankful~."
MJ can feel Sonja raring to go again.
"I gotta go."
"Aw."
She kisses him on the lips and heads for the front door
"Woahwoahwoahwoah." But immediately stops when Peter leaps in front of her with his arms out to stop her, "You forgetting there are people downstairs." She raises an eyebrow at him and he continues, "People that will want to ask questions that we want to avoid."
MJ's eyes light up. That's right, his friends would be hassling both of them for answers. Mostly him.
She looks to the only other exit of the place before she looks back at him, "Window?"
He nods. "Window."
She nods before she closes her eyes again and she transforms into Red Sonja. Obviously, Mary Jane can't be seen leaving Avengers Mansion in Spider-Man's arms.
In the reconstructed living room of the Avengers Mansion, Steve Rogers in his civilian clothing sits in a tarp-covered chair. Beside him, Logan is sitting in another chair and drinking from his flask. Tony seems to be looking at the room with a critical eye. And Hope is on the floor with her legs crossed and reading the magazines Logan handed her.
"Says here she likes honest, down-to-earth guys." She is also trying to make sense of the supermodel and superhero relationship she just discovered, "But here it says she wants good-looking studly types."
Steve and Logan look at her with amusement and Logan comments, "Kid try as you might you are not gonna find an answer as to why she and him are together. It's one of the great mysteries of the universe."
Steve gives him a disapproving look, "Don't say that to him."
Logan waves it off, "Ah, I've said worse to him."
Steve shakes his head at him while Hope continues to read the magazines and Tony looks around the living room to see how well it's been reconstructed. The walls are beige in color and the design is modern roman. Windows are clear but strong enough to take an explosion. A fireplace with some pieces of furniture around it that are covered in tarps. Just some spares the robots took out of storage.
And he has no intention of keeping them around.
"So what do the two of you need to talk to the Webhead about?" Logan asks.
Steve decides to answer, "Well the same thing we wanted to talk to you about." Logan raises an eyebrow at him, "We're forming a new team and we wanted to ask Spider-Man to lead it."
Now the eyebrow is raised higher, "You're kidding, right?"
"What?" Tony has a teasing but slight edge in his tone as he goes to take a vacant seat, "Don't think Sticky is good enough?"
Logan just shrugs, "It's not so much he can't lead a team, but more he might not want to."
Steve gives Tony an 'I told you so' look to which the genius philanthropist rolls his eyes, "I figured that." He tilts his head up in pride as he places his hand over his chest, "Which is why I came up with a solution."
It's a good plan. The younger man will like it and him for coming up with it. And it will be a greater step forward for Tony in mending his relationship with the guy.
Before Logan can ask more questions, his keen hearing picks up the familiar sounds of web shooters being used.
He looks out the window, "Looks like he doesn't want to talk to you two."
All of them, including Hope, look at him before they look out the window as well and just catch a glimpse of the aforementioned hero swinging away with another redhead in his arms.
"Well, we did catch him with his pants down."
(Peter Parker's Apartment)
Spider-Man lands on his apartment rooftop and quickly makes sure the coast is clear before he climbs down on the side of it. He gets to his balcony, slides open his window, and vaults in.
After dropping Sonja off on MJ's rooftop, the hero decided it was time to keep true to his word and start putting in more time as Peter Parker and less as Spider-Man. The first was fixing things up with his supermodel ex-girlfriend. And the irony was that it did almost kill him more than once.
'But it was totally worth it!'
Now it was time to get his professional life together. Meaning putting real time and effort in his job at Horizon Labs.
As he sprays the solvent on the webbing costume, 'So much better than my organic webbing,' he ponders about how he should start putting effort at his job. Inventions that would make a difference in the world. That's how he can make a worthwhile contribution with his life as Peter Parker.
'Then again that might be too high of a bar.' He muses before clenches is eyes and he reprimands himself, 'Stop doubting yourself. Spider-Man saved the world hundreds of times. That's just you with the mask!'
Still, maybe start smaller. Like something for the city of New York? Could work. With Jameson as the mayor he has an ear on the city council. He just needs to come up with something that the old grouch would like.
His webbing finally dissolves completely and he is left in his underwear. Again. Momentarily recalling what happened a quarter of an hour ago, he shakes his head and goes to shower.
In the shower, he thinks about what to do at Horizon Labs. He's not short on ideas for inventions. But ones that could be a real help he admitted weren't all that, shall we say, available to the public. Meaning that the common man would not use them in their everyday life. Which is weird because that is what he prefers to do as a hero.
After a quick shower, he goes over to his closet by his bed and pulls out a spare suit he has hidden on the shelf. The unstable molecule suit one he got from the Fantastic Four. It can change its design with some thought and right now it has his original design.
He would wear this more often but feels like he's doing something wrong when he wears it outside of the family of superheroes.
"I've really got to do something about my stupid guilt complex." He says as he shakes his head in disappointment and he looks over the suit.
He places it on his bed and pulls out some more clothes to put over it, a jacket with a white button shirt and jeans, before he goes to his dresser by his bed. As he pulls out his underwear and socks he finds something else in there.
His bachelor's degree.
He picks the framed degree up and looks at it. While he knows there is nothing to be ashamed of in getting a bachelor's, he also knows for someone like him it's kind of embarrassing. He is often compared to his friends in intelligence. He's come up with ideas and solutions that stunned the likes of Reed Richards and Tony Stark. The two most revered minds in the world.
Basically, he shouldn't have a bachelor's degree. He only really got it because it was easier for his Spider-Man life. He was a credit short of a doctors degree.
"Man," He sighs sadly as he places the degree on his dresser, "You are a depressing guy Parker." He leans on his dresser as he thinks about something else that he could do as Peter Parker, "It'll take a lot of time but if I'm serious about it, I think I can get a Ph.D."
It would certainly show he is trying to get his act together as Peter. The only problem is whether he can commit or not. He wants to but he knows his life can get hectic. Lots of things can get in the way. He shakes his head and gets ready for the day.
A few minutes later he's out his door and into his apartment elevator. Once more he gets lost in his thoughts. A doctorate would definitely be a great achievement for him. It would feel so good to tell people in his life he earned that. But he can't help but focus on the negatives. It'll be so time-consuming and taxing. Not to mention costly. He may not be as broke as he once was, but that still doesn't mean he's rolling in dough.
The elevator arrives on the first floor and he steps out.
"Good morning, Mr. Parker!" The doorman, Humphery, greets him with a genuine smile as he opens the door, "Beautiful day isn't it?"
Peter returns the smile as he glances up at the clear blue sky, "It really is."
Humphery gives him a puzzled look, "Forgive me, sir. But you seem more upbeat than usual."
"Do I?" Peter inquires since he was feeling negative about his education just two seconds ago.
The man nods, "Yes. You seem…" The older man gives him a once over as he tries to find the right word, "Rejuvenated."
"Huh." As he thinks about it, as negatively as he was thinking he doesn't feel sad. If anything he feels like a new man. He smiles as he recalls why that might be, "Well I did have a great night."
Rekindling love would certainly do that to a guy.
"You know something, Humphery?" Peter looks to the street as the other man looks at him curiously, "It's such a beautiful day out that I think I'm gonna walk to work today."
"Not taking the train sir?"
He shakes his head, "No. Days like today are so few and far between that I really need to enjoy them more." He walks away and waves back at the man, "Take care!"
"You too!"
He walks down the street and listens to the common sounds of New York. Car horns honking, people shouting, and the occasional siren that he can ignore since his spider-sense tells him if it's a big problem or not. He even interacts with his fellow New Yorkers. Buys some produce, runs into some old friends, and gives some directions to a few tourists.
After about a half hour, he arrives at Horizon Labs. He stares at the building and thinks back to what was said about him choosing to work here. Though it may have been true, he is gonna make the most of it now as his civilian persona.
'How I will do that I'm still in process of putting together.' He thinks as he enters the building and sees all of his fellow scientists and geniuses interacting with one another, 'Fortunately, I'm in a place where inspiration could come around any corner.'
"Hey, Pete!"
The sometime inventor turns to see a colleague whose parents are big Fantastic Four fans. The man is dark-skinned with a scrawny build and about a head or two shorter than Peter. He is dressed in a hoody and khaki pants with a beanie on his head.
"Hey Uatu." He gets back with a friendly smile.
Uatu Jackson walks up to him and asks, "What're you doing here early?"
Peter shrugs casually and responds, "Thought I might put in some hours and do the 'Double D' today."
"Ah, the dreaded 'Double D's'." Uatu nods in understanding, "The only downside in working here."
"One of the very few things we can all agree on," Peter quips.
The 'Double Check Duty', or 'Double D' as someone decided to dub it, is a requirement at Horizon Labs for all it's employees to do. It's when one of them checks the math on their colleague's work. It's the most despised duty they all have for one reason.
Nobody likes to be told they're wrong.
As a scientist, he knows that every intellectual hates to be corrected. Here at horizon labs, it's no different. To feel that inadequacy when someone checks your work and finds a mistake is certainly a blow to one's ego.
'Buts it's better to take a blow to the ego as opposed to taking an ex-blow-sion to the face. Ha! I kill myself.'
Uatu starts to walk away, "Well I'll let you get to it," he turns away but then turns back around and looks at Peter curiously, "By the way, you seem different today."
'So I've been told.' He thinks to himself before he shrugs and says with a smile, "Had a good night's sleep."
With that, they walk away and Peter heads to look for his assigned partner for his Double D. He does not have to look far as he sees the man before he sees him. The man has strawberry blonde hair on his head and a goatee subtle on his face. He is on the fluffy side of the fence and dressed in an opened button shirt with a Metallica T-shirt underneath and cargo pants.
'Grady Scraps.' Peter thinks to himself as Grady notices him now approaching, 'Not your typical scientist but a good guy nevertheless.'
"PARKEEERRR!" Grady greets with excitement as he hands out for a hug, "What took you, bro?"
Peter doesn't go for the hug but does smile at his overzealous colleague, "What're you talking about? This is the earliest I've ever been for work."
Not at all deterred by the lack of a hug, Grady nods, "Good point. Anyway, I got something awesome to show you."
"How awesome?"
"So awesome they'll put my picture in the dictionary next to the word awesome!"
"That does sound awesome."
As he walks with his fellow inventor he can't help but think about what to expect from him. Grady is not a conventional thinker. The man once made musical fungus just because. Though granted they were entertaining and made some killer music, they weren't well received by his fellow colleagues.
Not a lot of scientists have music in their souls.
'Weird thing is, I fall into that category but still enjoyed the Funky Funguses.'
They arrive at the hallway that leads to the break room, but the doorway is not what it once was.
Grady steps in front of him and gestures to it, "Ta-da~!
Peter looks back and forth between the door and the inventor, "Uh? You rebuilt the doorway to the breakroom?"
"Yes!" Grady says jubilantly, "This is now the doorway to the breakroom of TOMORROW! Row row."
Peter raises an eyebrow at him, for both the echo and the notion, "The breakroom of tomorrow?"
"Yup!"
Peter figures he means that he upgraded the tech inside and comments, "So what? Is it a happy tomorrow where everything is automated or did the robot uprising finally happen?"
He immediately thinks of Ultron when he thinks of a robot uprising.
Grady waves his hands and shakes his head, "No no no, not like that! It's literally the breakroom of tomorrow." He then waves his hands dismissively, "Besides, we all know that it'll be a zombie apocalypse that'll destroy us all."
"Why do you say that?"
Grady starts to list off his theories, "We got heroes that can fight killer robots, aliens, and other crazy powered people. But I doubt they can take on the zombie apocalypse because then they got to fight powered zombies."
Peter thinks about that for a second before he nods in agreement.
Grady steps through the door, "Okay I'll show you what I mean."
Peter watches as the man steps through the door and seven seconds later he comes back with a newspaper in hand.
"Ta-da~!" Grady announces again and shows a newspaper with the front page of Silver Sable shaking hands with Mayor J. Jonah Jameson.
Peter raises an eyebrow and grins in amusement, "So we still have newspapers in the 'Break Room of TOMORROW. Row, row.'"
"Ha ha." Grady sarcastically replies and hands the paper to Peter, "Read the rag."
The secret hero takes the rag and reads it out loud, "'Though the first annual Symkarian Pride parade was viewed by some as-'" He stops reading as something sinks in, "Hang on the parade isn't- hasn't..." he looks at his colleague in confusion before that confusion turns into amazement as the implications sink in, "No way."
Grady nods in excitement, "Way! I give you the 'Breakroom of Tomorrow! Row, row.'"
The implications alone have stunned Peter. He's dealt with and heard of time travel scenarios from his other life, hell he's met and worked with Cable, but his friend built a doorway to the tomorrow of their breakroom. The Breakroom of Tomorrow.
Clever
Peter smiles in astonishment, "How?"
"The archway on the door," Grady motions to the doorway, "It's a modulated field of Chronoton Particles that turn this into a sort of twenty-four-hour window. Out here it's Monday. In there it's Tuesday. The 'Breakroom of TOMORROW! Row, row."
Peter raises an eyebrow at his announcer voice, "Are you going to do that every time?
"Yeah." He says without hesitation or shame before gesturing to his invention, "Step inside. Check it out yourself."
Peter gets a little hesitant before he shrugs, "Alright, I'll give it a shot."
He steps past the inventor and into the door.
And he finds himself in his worst nightmare.
"Oh god," Peter says in utter shock as he looks around the desolate environment.
The world is in ruins. Everything is on fire. The sky is darkened by ash clouds. All around every building that he can see is torn down and laid to waste. From the Baxter building to the Chrysler. He sees bones and bodies buried under rubble.
"DUDE!" Grady shouts as he grabs his head in complete shock, "What did you do?!"
"I did what you did!" Peter shouts back as he stares in horror.
"Oh man, I got to get a better look at this!"
Spider-sense is triggered, "Don't step in!" Peter shouts at his co-worker as he motions at him to stop and the larger man freezes in place, "We need to know what caused this! If you step in it'll change! And with me in it!"
Grady, frozen with one foot in the air and looking scared at his friend's words, steps back, "My bad you're right."
Peter nods gratefully before he begins to investigate his surroundings. He combs across the debris and ruins of Horizon Labs. Trying to find any sign of what this catastrophe was and what caused it to happen.
All the while thinking about all his loved ones. Aunt May, Jameson, his friends, and Mary Jane. He can't let this future come true.
(Bleecker Street)
Mary Jane Watson walks down the streets wearing a hoodie and sunglasses to keep up a disguise so she won't be hounded by fans and paparazzi. Her destination is a house she was in the night prior. And the reason for her returning to said house is to learn magic.
Though she is still not sold on the idea.
"We've discussed this," Sonja points out as MJ continues to walk down the street, "You said you wanted to better help Peter and not be a burden."
MJ openly sighs and lowers her head, "I know that." She says outloud and hoping the people she walks by assume she is talking through an earpiece, "And learning this stuff will definitely go a long way. I'm just not happy about who I have to talk to."
She is still a little upset with Doctor Strange for the deal he made with Mephisto when he's been hard on Peter about their deal. MJ is willing to move past the deal that affected her and her life. Strange doesn't seem to be willing to do the same. And he made a deal that included both her and Peter.
"He's the most capable magic teacher in the world." Sonja points out to her, "Our options are very limited."
MJ sighs and then frowns in annoyance, "I know."
Whatever the circumstances may be she will hear them out but so long as he understands Peter's reasons too. And if he can't then she will be glad to try and find someone else.
"But I'm not telling him anything before I tell Peter anything," Mary Jane firmly states as she arrives at the patio of the Sanctum Sanctorium.
"Fair enough, but he might insist."
The supermodel is aware of that but she doesn't care. If he pushes too hard she will leave. It would not be fair to Peter to tell someone else everything about their former life when she hasn't told him anything. She is not planning to tell Peter, but she knows that now that it's out there, she will be revealing tidbits here and there.
She climbs up the steps and uses the door knocker. She doesn't have to wait long for someone to answer as the Asian man, whose name she unintentionally forgot to ask for, opens the door.
"We could ask him to teach us."
Not a bad idea.
The man looks at her curiously, "May I help you?"
MJ takes off her glasses before she greets him as he recognizes her, "Hi um..." She becomes a little sheepish, "I'm sorry I don't think I got your name."
The man shakes off his surprise before he politely introduces himself, "Wong."
"Wong," MJ repeats and gives him a sheepish, "I'm sorry it was a hectic day yesterday."
He gives her a friendly smile, "It's quite alright." He says unperturbed before he motions her in, "Please come in."
MJ steps past him and in to the home of the Sorcerer Supreme.
"Wong who is at the-oh." said Sorcerer Supreme comes floating down the steps and becomes surprised to see her as he lands on the floor, "Miss Watson."
MJ takes off her hood and nods at him, "Doctor Strange."
He nods back, "I'm surprised to see you here."
She would be surprised if he wasn't but she doesn't voice that and instead says, "There's something I'm hoping to talk to you about."
"Likewise actually."
They both become silent as they stare tensely at each other.
Seeing this, Wong decides to offer, "Tea?"
Stephen looks at his friend and nods as he relaxes a bit, "Yes, thank you."
Wong looks at Mary Jane and she just nods in confirmation. He walks to the kitchen to prepare the drinks, hoping that his friend isn't too brash with the woman.
The magic user motions to the living room, "After you."
She nods in thanks before she goes to the living room she was in the night before. It looks different during the day. A warmer ambiance than last night. Not a bad place but could definitely use a woman's touch.
They both sit in the available leather seats, and Strange speaks first, "I wanted to talk to you about your marriage to Peter."
Mary Jane closes her eyes as she takes a breath and tries to keep her emotions in check as some painful memories surface, "Doctor Strange." Some tension is still leaking into her voice, "I haven't even talked to Peter about that."
He frowns a bit in displeasure, either from her reluctance to talk to him or Peter MJ doesn't know, before he says, "Well there are some things that I need clarification on and the only way to do that is for you to-"
"Doctor." She tightly speaks and she gives him a hard look as Wong enters the room with a tray of refreshments, "If I haven't spoken to Peter about our former life together what makes you think I'll tell you anything? Especially considering what happened here in this room yesterday."
The good doctor frowns in aggravation at the reminder of his action, "Miss Watson I-"
"Stephen." Wong speaks to his friend as he sets the tray of drinks down on the coffee table between the two, "Perhaps you should consider what she is saying."
"Wong, you of all people should know how dire this is."
"I understand that Stephen," Wong cordially states as he acts as the buffer, "But I also understand that she, and Spider-Man for that matter, do not trust you at the moment. Perhaps you should try to earn it back before you press this."
Strange looks as if he wants to say something to his friend but holds his tongue and then sighs, "You're right." He says before he looks at the famous redhead, "I'm sorry. If you haven't spoken to Peter about this, then I have no right to be questioning you about it."
MJ releases a breath as looks at the two and says, "Thank you."
That was mostly directed to Wong, who nods at her before he pours her and Strange their tea. They drink their tea for a few moments of tense silence.
"What is it that you wanted to speak about?" Strange asks her.
MJ, thankful he's making an effort to move forward, answers him by asking her question, "Is there a way for Sonja to learn magic?"
Strange looks at her in surprise before he gets a pensive look. MJ looks at him expectedly and waits for him to answer her as does Wong.
The doctor places his drink on the table and then raises a finger at her, "One moment."
She watches as he stands and leaves the room. She ends up alone with Wong and doesn't try to strike up a conversation with the man. Instead, she allows her thoughts to drift to the doctor and how she will have to deal with him if she is able to learn magic. She feels like she can safely assume that he will try to pry information about her erased marriage. More to what lead them to make the deal and why she agreed. He'll be subtle and pry but she will be damned if she tells him anything she hasn't told Peter. And if he pushes she'll leave.
"Do not judge him too harshly Miss Watson," Wong suddenly speaks up.
Mary Jane frowns as she can guess the man was reading her facial expression and assumed what she was thinking, "It's just..." She says before she sighs, "Peter told me how he's been acting and well…"
Wong nods in understanding before he sits in the seat by her, "Stephen has always been a little hard-headed," He gives her a passive look, "But I assure you he only has the best intentions."
She knows that. But the guy is still being too harsh on Peter. He made a mistake and so did she. They realize that. And someone throwing it at their face is not helpful. Especially when that same someone made a similar mistake. The arrangement may have been different but it was still a deal with the devil.
"Look," She calmly starts, "I didn't have to come here. I could've asked Peter to ask another friend of his who knows magic but I know how he would have reacted. He's protective and he would have said that I don't need to be out there as much as him. So to avoid that I came here. And it's also my way to make peace with the doctor for Peter's sake."
"I understand," Wing nods and then gives her a sympathetic expression, "The things one does for love.
She ruefully laughs at how true that is.
"The blade," Wong decides to change the subject, "Stephen told me it is something similar to that of Illyana Rasputin's. A soul sword."
"What does that mean?" MJ inquires.
Wong gets a thoughtful expression as he explains, "From what he explained, it has the soul of a warrior from another realm trapped inside. And though many have wielded and merely touched it, not a single one was worthy enough to be her vessel," his tone sounds like he's impressed with her.
But Mary Jane doesn't feel he should be, "Yeah, she mentioned something like that. Apparently, I have some kind of inner strength."
He tilts his head inquisitively at her, "You doubt her?"
"I haven't exactly been a pillar of strength for some time," She elaborates as she thinks back on her actions both in her former life and this life.
She thinks about the times she rejected Peter's proposals because she thought being tied down to him would ruin her life when in reality he made it so much better. Yes in this life her career as both model and actress was an even bigger success, but it felt so empty and pointless. She has been trying so hard to replace the void left in the wake of her almost marriage that she threw herself into her work. And while she is a successful career woman, all the fame and fortune she has accumulated doesn't fill that hole in her heart.
And that was just in this life, in her last life she wasn't much better in her opinion. How many times has she walked away from Peter because his life was too much for her to handle? And once again threw herself into her career because it was better than dealing with the insanity that was Spider-Man.
And yet because of her career she has had stalkers and crazed paparazzi that would not leave her alone. But did Peter complain? Well, not to her level.
"Miss Watson," Wong pulls her out of her thoughts, "I believe you are confusing strength of will with the willingness to apply the strength." The actress looks at him inquisitively as he goes on, "That blade chose you to be a vessel to miss Sonja. Therefore it saw strength in you that it did not see in all the others that touched the weapon."
MJ knows that. But she doesn't see it. Her past actions show she isn't the hero type. Not to everyone else's level.
"Strength is the ability to carry a burden. Whether or not you will or won't is a choice."
She looks down shamefully as she states, "It's just hard to."
Wong nods in understanding, "Nothing worth having in life is easy. Nor should it be. Because if that were the case, we would not value those things as much as we should."
It's weird how he's just stating the obvious and yet it's having a positive effect on her. She knew all of what he was saying, but she guesses she had kind of forgotten.
"This man possesses much wisdom."
She smiles and looks at the man in gratitude, "Thank you, Wong. And please call me MJ or Mary Jane. All my friends do."
Wong nods with a friendly smile, "Very well, Mary Jane."
She nods back in appreciation just in time for Strange to come back in the room.
(Horizon Labs)
Peter crouches on the ground of the destroyed 'Breakroom of Tomorrow' examining a cracked watch. Looking at it intensely and thinking about what it means. The watch shows the last time it was working.
"Ten after three." He says to himself as he stands and goes to walk out of the future room.
"What?" Grady still stands at the door with concern.
Peter gets to the door and shows him the watch, "Whatever happened here, happens ten minutes after three o'clock."
He walks past Scraps and comes back into the present where he places his hands on his knees and takes deep breaths.
"I don't understand." Grady scratches his head as he keeps his eyes on the future, "Why did this happen?"
To know that, Peter has to ask the inventor.
He looks at the man and motions to the machine, "Grady, how does this thing work exactly?"
"The way this thing works is that you skip over the next twenty-four hours." Grady explains, "Basically you go to a future where you weren't around for a whole day."
And that fills Peter's stomach with dread. He's always wondered what it would be like if the world went without him. Even for a day. Now he knows.
And boy is he gonna be kicking himself later for this.
"I don't get it, man," Grady looks at him in bewilderment, "I mean, I stepped through the door too and it was fine, but when you did the world ended."
Peter can tell there was an unasked question in there and decides to answer it, "I know Spider-Man, remember?"
"Oh yeah," Grady says in realization before he gets curious, "So what? Do you talk to him or say something to him that changes this?"
Peter wishes it was that simple. But in his life, it never is. It's most likely the fact that he decided to focus more on Peter Parker over Spider-Man.
Peter thinks about what to do before he looks at Grady and sees the newspaper in his hand.
The same newspaper from a tomorrow that wasn't on fire.
"Let me see that newspaper," Peter snatches the paper out of his friend's possession and reads the front page, "This. We have to follow this. We have to tell Spider-Man everything he is supposed to do today."
Grady nods vehemently as he comes to the same conclusion, "Right! We get him to step on the right butterflies and boom! Bad Tuesday is gone!
Getting the reference, Peter hands him back the paper and begins to walk away, "Exactly. I'll go get him. You make sure nobody steps through that door. We need to know when we changed this back to good Tuesday."
"Got it!"
As Peter rushes out he thinks about the implications of what this means. The world can't go a day without him without going to hell. And he wondered if that's the case if he decides to be Peter Parker more than Spider-Man. If so then he doesn't see how he can listen to his uncle's advice and get his life as Peter Parker together without letting the world burn. He's so lost in his thoughts that he instinctively listens to his spider-sense and stops himself before running into his boss.
"Woah!" Modell says in surprise, "Peter where's the fire?"
"Down the hall," unintentionally blabs before he panics, "Dah! I mean uh that's a nice watch."
Two seconds later he realizes what his subconscious caught as his boss shows off the watch, "Oh my partner Hector gave this to me. Early birthday present. Really nice huh?"
Peter nods while he stares dazedly at the timekeeper, "Yeah," He shakes his head before he rushes past the man, "Sorry I got to go!"
Modell watches his employee run off with a raised brow, "Alright then?"
Peter runs out of the building and quickly thinks of a private area he can change his clothes. The closest one would be five blocks away from where he is. He runs across the streets and is careful not to bowl over anyone that is going about their day.
As he does he thinks about all of them. All of these people going about their day. Not worried about the world ending but just trying to keep the lights on and put food on the table. At least that's what he sees them doing. Because that's what he does. To him, he still sees himself as one of them. Not a superhero but just an average schmo who is just trying to live his life as best as he can.
'At least now I am,' he thinks to himself as he arrives in an alleyway and slips on his mask after he checks if the coast is clear before he quickly scales the building, 'I don't know if that'll be the case after all of this,' he gets to the rooftop and begins to strip out of his civilian clothes, 'I just saw what the world would be like without me for a day. And it did not look like paradise.'
He so engrossed in his thoughts he doesn't notice someone watching him. But it's not someone who poses a danger to him so his spider-sense doesn't go off.
"Still nice and tight as ever."
"Bah!"
He leaps into a goofy fighting pose as he turns to see a familiar face lying down on her stomach with her feet kicking the air. A woman with platinum blonde hair in a leather outfit that hugs her curves in all the right ways.
"Cat?!" Spider-Man shouts in surprise, "Where'd you come from?!"
"You know me Spider," She slides off the edge to fall off and lands on her feet gracefully, "I have a tendency to pop out when you least expect me."
He relaxes as he thinks about how true that is.
"So," She says as she steps closer to him in a sultry manner, "Heard a little rumor you croaked," He winces at the reminder, "Then I saw you on the news after that fed shot himself, and I thought to myself I shouldn't have been worried. Afterall," she slips her arms around his neck and leans in close to his face, "My Spider doesn't die easily."
He starts to feel some residual vexation bubble up, "Your Spider? What about Daredevil?"
She rolls her eyes and steps back from him with a sigh, "Jealousy doesn't suit you Spider," She then gives him a flirty smile, "Besides, as good as he was, you still do things that make my toes curl."
He gives her a flat look, "I'm sure."
Her smile is replaced with an irritated frown as she huffs and crosses her arms under her ample chest, "Hey I was worried! Especially when I saw you beating up your friends."
Seeing that he's letting his negative emotions get the better of him, he relaxes with a sigh, "I'm sorry. It's been a hectic few days." He scratches his head nervously, "And that wasn't a rumor."
She is surprised to hear that, "You really did die."
He nods, "Yeah."
She gets a pensive frown before she tries to casually ask, "Is that how you met that new redhead?"
"What?" Spider-Man gets bewildered by her question, "No. How would I meet someone when I'm dead?"
Felicia tries to act like she's talking about the weather, "Well I've never met or even seen her before so I assumed you met her recently."
He gives her a disbelieving expression. It's an obvious lie, but she clearly wants an explanation as to who Sonja is and where she came from. And while he feels like he doesn't owe her an explanation, he thinks about MJ's proposition.
So maybe he should explain a bit.
"Sonja is," He gets a brain fart when he thinks about her while Felicia looks at him expectedly, "An old friend."
She raises an eyebrow at his lame explanation before she shrugs dismissively, "Doesn't matter I guess. She's certainly a step up from Mary 'Plain' Jane."
He gives her a reprimanding look before he gets back to placing his clothes into his backpack, "Look, sorry I want to talk to you but I need to call in some help to-"
"Don't do that."
"BAH!"
He leaps into another goofy fighting pose as he faces another surprise guest. A redheaded woman who usually looks like Carmen Sandiego in that she wears a trench coat, is now wearing sweatpants and a t-shirt.
"Julia!?" Spider-Man says in surprise before he frowns and whips his head back and forth between the two women, "Do you people enjoy giving me a heart attack!?"
A ghost of a smile appears on Madam Web's face as she elaborates, "You can not call for the Avengers."
"What?" Spider-Man cannot believe what she is telling him, "Hold on, the whole city is at stake here!"
"The world is at stake and the Avengers can't help you."
Spidey stares at her in disbelief while Black Cat gives a fish face, "Well," She clears her throat and turns away to leave, "This sounds like something you got to do by yourself so I'll just be-"
"I'm afraid you're needed for this Miss Hardy," Julia appears in front of Cat, surprising her.
Quickly gathering her usual coy composure, the notorious thief gives her a saucy look, "Yeah, no. I'm not the world-saving type."
"If you run now you will die."
Hardy drops her look and gives Julia a hard one, "Excuse me? Are you threatening me?"
Spider-Man quickly gets between them, "No no no." He waves his hands in front of his old flame before he gestures to the woman behind him, "Julia is kind of a psychic. She can tell the future."
But he finds it very irritating how vague the fortune teller is.
"And right now your future, everyone's future is in grave peril." Case in point.
Julia vanishes without further explanation and Peter stares at the space in irritation. He still doesn't appreciate the foreboding predictions that she gives him constantly. Cassandra was just as bad.
Felicia stares at the spot before she looks at her old flame, "Care to explain?"
Spider-Man looks at her and sighs, "Okay, so a friend of mine built a time door of some kind, and he stepped through it to tomorrow, and everything was fine. But when I stepped through it everything was not fine 'cause the whole world caught on fire. And then he explained to me that the way it works is that I skipped over twenty-four hours. Basically, I found out what it would be like if I ended up missing."
"…"
"…"
"…It's never just a day with you. Is it Spider?"